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January 2, 2023
UN seeks World Court opinion on occupation of Palestine
CounterVortex

The UN General Assembly passed a resolution referring Israel's 55-year occupation of Palestinian territories to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a legal advisory. The vote, which followed approval of a draft resolution by the Special Committee on Decolonization, was 87-26, with 53 abstentions. The Palestinian Authority welcomed the vote, saying in a statement: "The time has come for Israel to be a state subject to law, and to be held accountable for its ongoing crimes against our people." But the response of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to power just two days before the vote, makes clear his government's annexationist agenda. He stated: "The Jewish people is not occupying its land and is not occupying its eternal capital Jerusalem. No UN resolution can distort this historical truth." The far-right coalition that now takes power has pledged to expand Israeli settlement of the West Bank. 

The UN General Assembly on Dec.

October 22, 2022
UN report: occupation of Palestine 'unlawful'
Jurist

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, released its second report, stating there are "reasonable grounds to conclude that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is now unlawful under international law due to its permanence and the Israeli Government's de-facto annexation policies." The commission called for the UN Security Council to bring to an end the "illegal situation resulting from the permanent occupation imposed by Israel" and require Israel to bring "its permanent occupation to an end immediately." 

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, on Oct.

June 10, 2021
Podcast: Gaza and genocide
CounterVortex

In Episode 72 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg repudiates the propaganda line that "Israel has a right to defend itself," exposing this as justification of war crimes, and obfuscation of the reality of apartheid both sides of the Green Line. He also examines the United Nations definition of "genocide" to ask whether Israel's war on Gaza may now be crossing the "genocidal threshold" that Israeli society has long been approaching, in both rhetoric and action that dehumanize the Palestinians. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

In Episode 72 of the CounterVortex podcast

May 19, 2021
Gaza bombardment displaces 58,000 Palestinians
Jurist

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reports that the Israeli bombardment has resulted in over 58,000 Palestinians being displaced from their homes in the Gaza Strip. Of these, 47,000 are currently seeking shelter in facilities run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. It has also led to the destruction of health infrastructure such as COVID-19 testing labs and other clinics. The destruction exacerbates privation imposed by the ongoing blockade of the Strip.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) announcedMay 18 that the Israeli bombardment has resulted in over 58,000 Palestinians being displaced from their homes in the Gaza Strip.

April 29, 2021
HRW accuses Israel of 'apartheid and persecution'
Jurist

Human Rights Watch issued a report accusing Israeli authorities of crimes against humanity, specifically those of apartheid and persecution, targeting the Palestinian people. The report charges that there is "an overarching Israeli government policy" to mitigate what authorities have openly described as a "demographic threat" from Palestinians. The 213-page report, A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution, cites definitions in the 1973 International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid and the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Human Rights Watch on April 27 issued a report accusing Israeli authorities of crimes against humanity, specifically those of apartheid and persecution, targeting the Palestinian people.

January 30, 2020
Palestinians reject 'Swindle of the Century'
New Jewish Resistance

Trump's Israel-Palestine "peace" plan (sic), unveiled at the White House in a joint press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, has been anointed with the very Trumpian epithet "Deal of the Century." It is actually a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum to the Palestinians to accept the status quo of bantustans, surrender much territory to actual Israeli annexation, give up their long-standing demand for justice for refugees—and call it "peace." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas predictably responded with "a thousand no's." And Palestinians immediately mobilized in outrage.

Trump's Israel-Palestine "peace" plan (sic), unveiled at the White House Jan.

November 5, 2019
Gaza: Great March of Return still faces repression
CounterVortex

More than a year and a half after it was launched, the Great March of Return continues to mobilize weekly on the Gaza Strip border. The last Friday in October saw the 80th such mobilization—and was met with gunfire by Israeli security forces. Hundreds of Palestinians protested at various points near the border fence, with some setting tires on fire and throwing stones, Molotov cocktails and firecrackers at the Israeli forces—who responded by launching tear-gas canisters and opening fire with both rubber bullets and live rounds. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, 95 civilians—including 43 children, a woman, two paramedics and a journalist—were injured by Israeli troops.

More than a year and a half after it was launched, the 

May 7, 2019
Gaza invasion averted; West Bank land-grabs escalate
New Jewish Resistance

An Egyptian-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip took effect with no formal announcement, after two days of hostilities that saw the most extensive Israeli air-strike since 2014. Hidden from the headlines, the ongoing confiscation of Palestinian lands on the West Bank meanwhile continues. The day after the ceasefore, Israeli forces forced several Palestinian families to evacuate from their homes in northern Jordan Valley, in order to make way for military training. Days before, Israeli bulldozers uprooted some 120 fruitful olive trees west of Ramallah, to pave a settler-only road through the area. A document said to outline Donald Trump's "Deal of the Century" to end the Palestinian conflict calls for a reduced Palestinian state on lands not already appropriated by settlement blocs. The areas of the blocs are to expand, incorporating outlying settlements, and will remain under Israeli control—apparently amounting to a de facto annexation.

An Egyptian-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip apparently took effect with no formal announcement May 6, after two days of hostilities that saw hundreds of rockets launched from Gaza and

March 26, 2019
Escalation in Gaza; Orwell in Golan
New Jewish Resistance

Amid a new round of Israeli air-strikes on Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Donald Trump in Washington for the signing of a presidential proclamation officially recognizing the occupied Golan Heights as Israeli territory. At the joint press conference, Trump said, "We will confront the poison of anti-Semitism." We hope it is unnecessary to point out the perversity of Trump exploiting the threat of anti-Semitism to justify US recognition of an illegal Israeli annexation of Syrian territory.

An Egypt-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions in the besieged Gaza Strip was declared March 26 following two days of Israeli air-strikes and Palestinian rocket fire. Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of strikes across the Strip, while at least 50 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel.

February 28, 2019
UN sees possible crimes against humanity in Gaza
Jurist

The UN Human Rights Council released the Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, finding potential crimes against humanity committed by Israel. The report focuses on the seven-month period last year when the Gaza protest campaign known as the "Great March of Return and the Breaking of the Siege" was taking place. During this period, 6,106 unarmed protesters were shot by military snipers, resulting in 189 Palestinian deaths.

The UN Human Rights Council released the Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory on Feb.

June 15, 2018
UN General Assembly denounces Gaza repression
Maan News Agency

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for greater protection for the Palestinian people following weeks of the "Great March of Return" protests on the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip. The resolution also denounces any use of “excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate” force by Israel against Palestinians. The Algerian-sponsored resolution was adopted by a vote of 120 in favor, eight against, with 45 abstentions. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the vote is "a victory for Palestinian rights, justice and international law." While the UNGA—in which every member country has an equal vote —has historically stood in support of Palestinians, its resolutions are generally non-binding. A similar but bidning measure in the UN Security Council days earlier was vetoed by the United States.

The UN General Assembly June 13 adopted a resolution calling for greater protection for the Palestinian people following weeks of the "Great March of Return" protests on the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip. 

May 15, 2018
Israel advances toward genocidal threshold
New Jewish Resistance

At least 55 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 injured along the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip as Israeli army snipers opened fire on "March of Return" protesters. Six of the slain Palestinians were minors under the age of 18, including one girl. The Gaza Ministry of Health said at least 1,204 Palestinians were injured with live ammunition. The massacre along the Gaza borders came exactly as US and Israeli dignitaries inaugurated the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump among those officiating. Just outside the new embassy, Palestinian demonstrators were brutally attacked by Israeli security forces—eliciting cheers from Israelis who came out to support the embassy’s opening. The Israelis reportedly chanted "Burn them, shoot them, kill them!"

At least 55 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 injured along the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip on May 14, as Israeli army snipers opened fire on "March of Return" protesters.

April 19, 2018
Gaza protest camp moves closer to border fence
World War 4 Report

Local activists in Gaza announced that they had moved tents set up along the border with Israel as part of the "Great March of Return," relocating them 50 meters closer to the border fence. The committee in charge of the Great March said they had moved the "tents of return" closer to the border "as a message of persistence from our people to the world that we are moving forwards towards our rightful goals." The announcement came on the 20th day of protests since the Great March of Return began in the besieged Gaza Strip, as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians demanded their collective right of return to their homelands in present-day Israel.

Local activists in Gaza announced April 29 that they had moved tents that were set up along the border with Israel as part of the "Great March of Return," relocating them 50 meters closer to the border fence.

April 7, 2018
Standing for Gaza and Ghouta in New York's Union Square
Bill Weinberg

Protesters for both the besieged Gaza Strip and the besieged Syrian enclave of Ghouta gathered in New York's Union Square on Friday night, April 6. Those standing for Gaza and Ghouta should be natural allies, but there was little interaction between the two protests. And some (by no means all) among the Gaza protesters were followers of Stalinist factions that support the dictatorship of Bashar Assad—who is raining death down on Ghouta just as Israel has serially rained death down on Gaza. What will it take to provoke the conversation that needs to be had on the American left, and build the unified but multi-issue movement so desperately needed at this dangerous moment, with fascist forces on the advance worldwide?

So, as every Friday, our Syria Solidarity NYC group held its vigil in Union Square to bear witness against the ongoing savage bombardment of Ghouta.

April 1, 2018
Rights groups slam Israeli 'crimes' in Gaza
Maan News Agency

Human rights organizations have come out in condemnation of Israel's violent response to massive unarmed civilian protests in Gaza, which left 16 Palestinians—one farmer and 15 protesters —dead along the Strip's border. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights, released a statement condemning Israel's use of military snipers against the civilian protesters. "The Israeli military's use of 100 snipers against unarmed Palestinian civilian protesters in the Gaza Strip is illegal." 

Human rights organizations have come out in full condemnation of Israel's violent response to massive unarmed civilian protests in Gaza on March 30, which left 16 Palestinians—

May 25, 2017
Palestinians burn effigies of Trump in Gaza
Maan News Agency

Palestinians erupted in anger over President Trump naming the Hamas movement—Gaza's de facto ruling party—in a list of terrorist organizations during his speech in Riyadh.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continued to express outrage over US President Donald Trump naming the Hamas movement—Gaza's de facto ruling party—in a list of terrorist organizations during a <

May 2, 2017
Hamas unveils new charter, accepts 1967 borders
Maan News Agency

The Hamas movement announced a new charter, with language rejecting any legitimacy of "the Zionist entity," yet accepting a Palestinian state along the 1967 "Green Line."

The Hamas movement announced its new charter on May 1, presenting an accepta

October 6, 2016
Israeli army shells Gaza —again
Maan News Agency

The Israeli army shelled a site allegedly used by Palestinian militant groups in the central Gaza Strip after a rocket fired from the Strip hit an open area in southern Israel.

The Israeli army shelled a site allegedly used by Palestinian militant groups in the central Gaza Strip on Oct. 6, after a rocket fired from the Strip hit an open area in southern Israel. Israeli military vehicles stationed along the border between Gaza and Israel reportedly shelled an area east of the Maghazi refugee camp, without causing any injuries.

 

September 5, 2016
Israel to deploy armed robot vehicles on Gaza border
World War 4 Report

Israel is preparing to deploy fully autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) along the border with the Gaza Strip—mounted with machine-guns that can be remotely fired.

Israel is set to use fully autonomous unmanned vehicles along the border with the Gaza Strip, according to a report published by Fox News.

June 10, 2016
Israel implements full closure on West Bank, Gaza
Maan News Agency

Israeli authorities implemented a full closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, adding to a long line of punitive measures carried out since a deadly attack in Tel Aviv.

Israeli authorities implemented a full closure on the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip on June 10, adding to a long line of punitive measures that have been carried out since the deadly attack in Tel Aviv two days earlier. An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that all passages to the West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip would be sealed until Monday June 13 at midnight after an army

March 31, 2016
ICC receives report on Israeli war crimes in Gaza
Maan News Agency

Palestinian rights organization Badil published findings on Israeli war crimes during the 2014 Gaza campaign that the group has submitted to the International Criminal Court.

In ongoing efforts to hold Israel accountable for gross violations of international law, Palestinian legal rights group Badil has published key findings on alleged war crimes during the 2014 Gaza war that the group submitted to the International Criminal Court earlier this month.

December 28, 2015
Israel sprays crop-killing pesticides on Gaza
Maan News Agency

Israeli planes sprayed Palestinian agricultural lands along the Gaza Strip border with pesticides, killing off crops of vegetables and beans.

Israeli planes reportedly sprayed agricultural lands along the Gaza border on Dec. 23 with pesticides that have been killing off crops for the third day in a row, the general manager of the plant protection department at the Gaza-based Ministry of Agriculture told Ma'an News Agency.

November 18, 2015
Spain issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu
World War 4 Report

A Spanish judge ordered the Civil Guard to detain the Israeli prime minister if he sets foot in the country, in a case related to the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid.

Judge Jose de la Mata of Spain's Audiencia Nacional on Nov.

October 18, 2015
Israel threatens to 'banish' Palestinians to Gaza
New Jewish Resistance

In another step towards a genocidal solution to the Palestinian question, an Israeli defense official threatened to "begin deporting the families of terrorists to the Gaza Strip."

"If the terrorist attacks continue, we will begin deporting the families of terrorists to the Gaza Strip," Israeli TV quoted a senior defense official as saying on Oct.

October 10, 2015
ISIS enters Israel-Palestine fray?
World War 4 Report

Israel carried out air-strikes on the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket attack from the territory—said to have been claimed by a faction that has pledged loyalty to ISIS.

Israel carried out an air-strike on the Gaza Strip Oct. 5 in response to a rocket attack from the territory—said to have been claimed by the "Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade," a Salafist organization apparently affiliated with ISIS.