Ahmad Gharabli/AFP
Israeli forces raided the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem for the second night on Tuesday, spraying skunk water, a chemically enhanced type of sewage water, and physically assaulting residents and solidarity protesters…
Palestinians have been protesting against the forced displacement of people in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood following an Israeli court order. The Israeli district court in East Jerusalem approved a decision to vacate six Palestinian families from their homes in May in favour of Israeli settlers. The same court ruled that another seven families in Sheikh Jarrah are to leave their homes by August 1…
Palestinians fear it is part of an ongoing effort by Israeli settlers to take control of Palestinian homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood … A video showing a settler attempting to take over a Palestinian home in Sheikh Jarrah on Saturday has further caused outrage.
Since 1956, a total of 37 Palestinian families have been living in 27 homes in the neighbourhood – including 28 refugee families who were ethnically cleansed from their homes in Jaffa and Haifa in 1948.
However, illegal Jewish settlers have been trying to push them out on the basis of a law approved by the Israeli parliament in 1970.
Yup. The land of the free 2.0 … in much of the American Press.
Eideard 
Re: ‘skunk water’ see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skunk_(weapon)#Product
Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday postponed a hearing on the possible eviction of several Palestinian families from their homes in Jerusalem and will set a new date within 30 days. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/09/middleeast/jerusalem-sheikh-jarrah-unrest/index.html
The Supreme Court said the hearing, which was supposed to take place Monday, was canceled at the request of the State Attorney General.
Last week, the court said it would hear an appeal by the Palestinian families against their eviction from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, in the latest development in a decades-long legal case.
A pro-settler organization called Nahalat Shimon is using a 1970 law to argue that the owners of the land before 1948 were Jewish families, and so the current Palestinian landowners should be evicted and their properties given to Israeli Jews.
Palestinians say restitution laws in Israel are unfair because they have no legal means to reclaim property they lost to Jewish families in the late 1940s in what became the state of Israel.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday the law is “applied in an inherently discriminatory manner,” adding that the transfer of Israeli civilians onto occupied land could be “prohibited under international humanitarian law and may amount to a war crime.” https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27067&LangID=E)
“The headlines speak mainly of “clashes”, “conflict”, and “casualties on both sides”. The politicians recite bromides about Israel’s “right to defend itself”– a right that Palestinians seemingly do not have. The US government calls for “all parties to deescalate”, with no acknowledgment that it is US funds – $3.8bn a year – that, in part, make Israel’s bombardment of Gaza possible. This is the familiar American routine when Israel goes to war.” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/13/us-funds-make-israels-bombardment-of-gaza-possible-when-will-they-be-halted
Congressional Research Service “U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel” (Updated November 16, 2020) https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf
The Biden administration has approved the sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel, raising red flags for some House Democrats who are part of the shifting debate over the U.S. government’s support for the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/17/power-up-biden-administration-approves-735-million-weapons-sale-israel-raising-red-flags-some-house-democrats/
The bulk of the proposed sale is of Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMS, kits that transform so-called “dumb” bombs into precision-guided missiles.
Israel, which has purchased substantial quantities of JDAMS in the past, has said the Gaza airstrikes are precision guided to avoid hitting civilians, but charged that Hamas uses civilians in the heavily populated enclave as human shields.
Israel’s defense minister has distanced himself from comments made by his military chief after Israel bombed a Gaza Strip high-rise housing Al Jazeera and The Associated Press offices as well as other news outlets, saying the remarks were not meant to be taken literally. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/1/israel-rolls-back-army-chiefs-comments-of-coffee-with-hamas
“GOP Senator Lindsey Graham toured Israel to inspect damage from the 11 days of violence with Hamas and said Israel will request $1 billion in aid from the US to replenish their Iron Dome security system.” https://news.yahoo.com/lindsey-graham-says-israel-request-052902958.html
“There will be a $1 billion request coming to the Pentagon this week from the defense minister to replenish the Iron Dome and a few other things, to upgrade the system,” Graham said at a press conference.
Iron Dome (Hebrew: כִּפַּת בַּרְזֶל, kippat barzel) is a mobile all-weather air defense system. Re: funding see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Dome#Funding
The toll of Israeli strikes on Gaza: Mapping the destruction left behind (Washington Post 6/11/21) https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/06/11/gaza-damage-map-rebuilding-israel/
“Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) has not-so-subtly suggested that the Associated Press knew that Hamas had offices in the Gaza tower where the AP had been housed for at least 15 years.
“Why is the Associated Press sharing a building with Hamas? Surely these intrepid reporters knew who their neighbors were,” Cotton said, his sarcasm clear.
Israeli forces Saturday destroyed a tower in Gaza that house the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and other media organizations. Israel has claimed that Hamas operated out of the building, making it a legitimate military target, and gave tenants and residents one hour to evacuate.
Sally Buzbee, the AP’s executive editor, has said that before the bureau received word to evacuate out, she was never informed, and never had any indication, that Hamas might be in the building.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that he hasn’t seen any evidence supporting Israel’s claim that Hamas operated out of the building, according to the AP.” https://www.mediaite.com/news/tom-cotton-slams-ap-whiny-reporters-after-gaza-offices-bombed-ap-has-some-uncomfortable-questions-to-answer/
“‘Give us 10 minutes’: How Israel bombed a Gaza media tower” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/15/give-us-10-minutes-how-israel-bombed-gaza-media-tower
Video captures Israeli ‘roof knock’ before Gaza building is destroyed https://nypost.com/2021/05/20/video-shows-israeli-roof-knock-before-gaza-building-bombed/
“In 2009, the United Nations said the technique was “not effective as a warning and constitutes a form of attack against the civilians inhabiting the building.”
The Israel Defense Forces said it is one of several ways in which the military dedicates “resources to minimize civilian harm” in the enclave.
The military also has been calling residents by phone, sending them text messages and dropping flyers since its war on Gaza in 2008-2009.
“Is Netanyahu pushing Israeli aggression in a bid to hold on to power?” https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/is-netanyahu-pushing-israeli-aggression-in-a-bid-to-hold-on-to-power-46776
“There is nothing like bombing Gaza and anti-Palestinian riots in Israel to deliver the country’s scandal-plagued Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a break from the scrutiny of mounting corruption cases and another deadlocked election.
When Israeli forces closed Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, a central hub for Palestinians living in the city, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, simmering tensions burst their dams.
Then Israeli courts made another controversial and highly provocative decision, scheduling a hearing for residents of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem on their appeal against their houses being taken from them and given to settlers, on the 10 May, which in Israel is called Jerusalem Day.
Jerusalem Day marks the day Israel conquered and occupied East Jerusalem after 1967.”
[TRT World is a Turkish state-owned news channel based in Istanbul]
‘Traitors’: Fears of violence grows as Netanyahu clings to power https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/9/the-trump-method-how-netanyahu-jeopardises-israels-democracy
Israel’s Netanyahu denies ‘incitement’, alleges election fraud https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/9/the-trump-method-how-netanyahu-jeopardises-israels-democracy
“We are witnessing the greatest election fraud in the history of the country, in my opinion in the history of any democracy,” Netanyahu said in comments to legislators from his right-wing Likud party.
Mired in a court battle on corruption charges that could see him face prison time, Netanyahu has mobilized his supporters to peel off defectors ahead of a confirmation vote.
On Saturday, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency Nadav Argaman issued a rare public statement warning of a “severe escalation in violent and inciting discourse” on social media. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/6/israels-netanyahu-denies-incitement-alleges-election-fraud
“Dozens of Jewish settlers, flanked by heavily armed Israeli special forces, stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem in the early morning, hours after Palestinian worshippers were beaten and assaulted by Israeli police, according to the Islamic authority overseeing the site.
Citing witnesses, Palestinian news agency WAFA said Israeli police had earlier on Sunday assaulted Palestinian worshippers who were performing dawn prayers at the mosque and “excessively beat” them in order to make way for Israeli Jewish settlers to storm the compound – Islam’s third-holiest site.
The incident comes as a fragile ceasefire holds in the besieged Gaza Strip, days after the end of a brutal 11-day Israeli bombing campaign that killed at least 248 people, including 66 children.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/23/backed-by-israeli-police-jewish-settlers-storm-al-aqsa-compound
The Irish government has supported a parliamentary motion condemning the “de facto annexation” of Palestinian land by Israeli authorities, in what it said was the first use of the phrase by a European Union country in relation to Israel.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Tuesday that the motion, brought forward by opposition party Sinn Fein, “is a clear signal of the depth of feeling across Ireland”.
If passed, the amendment would require the government to expel the Israeli ambassador to Ireland and to impose economic, political and cultural sanctions against Israel. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/26/ireland-recognises-israels-de-facto-annexation-of-palestine
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Tuesday that the U.S. would reopen its consulate in Jerusalem — a move that restores ties with Palestinians that had been downgraded by the Trump administration. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/25/us-reopens-jerusalem-consulate-490769
What’s behind Ireland’s support for Palestine? https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/7/whats-behind-irelands-support-for-palestine
A shared sense of struggle underpins a bond, and after the recent conflict, Dublin has made landmark diplomatic moves against Israel.
Jerusalem’s District Court postponed a ruling this week on an appeal by seven Palestinian families, comprising 44 people, facing expulsion from their homes in the Batan al-Hawa area of Silwan.
The court delay on Wednesday followed an earlier ruling by the magistrate’s court that the families, part of 19 families from Batan al-Hawa, be expelled from their homes to make way for Israeli settlers who claim they lived there before 1948 when the state of Israel was established. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/29/no-longer-afraid-palestinians-vow-to-fight-jerusalem-evictions
Why is the Palestinian Authority arresting West Bank activists?
Dozens of Palestinian activists have been detained by the PA in the aftermath of Israel’s offensive on Gaza Strip. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/28/why-is-palestinian-authority-arresting-activists-in-west-bank
A long-running campaign by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families in east Jerusalem is still underway, even after it fueled weeks of unrest and helped ignite an 11-day Gaza war. https://apnews.com/article/jerusalem-africa-middle-east-government-and-politics-bf48f2b789e4989d8d3a9e77243ab3b8
The settlers are using a 1970 law that allows Jews to reclaim properties lost during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation, a right denied to Palestinians who lost property in the same conflict, including Palestinian citizens of Israel. https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-religion-6437efa7d19c63006bc2b6d3abbf8169
Israeli police assaulted Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Givara Budeiri while arresting her on Saturday and destroyed equipment belonging to Al Jazeera cameraman Nabil Mazzawi.
Budeiri was reporting on a sit-in marking the 54th anniversary of the Naksa (setback), a term Palestinians use to describe the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967. Budeiri said she was released on the condition that she does not go to Sheikh Jarrah for 15 days.
‘We have seen a lot of targeted attacks against journalists by the Israeli forces throughout the past weeks and months and this is, unfortunately, not an isolated case,’ said Barbara Trionfi of the International Press Institute. https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2021/6/6/the-moment-when-al-jazeera-journalist-was-arrested Videos of the arrest https://twitter.com/RZabaneh/status/1401216393446670339
Tech giants help Israel muzzle Palestinians https://electronicintifada.net/content/tech-giants-help-israel-muzzle-palestinians/33336
Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Givara Budeiri left hospital on Sunday after receiving treatment for injuries sustained during her arrest by Israeli forces the day before.
Budeiri’s left hand was fractured when she was arrested while covering a demonstration in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Saturday.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/6/al-jazeera-journalist-leaves-hospital-day-after-israeli-arrest
Tensions in the occupied West Bank have reached boiling point as Israeli settlers defy Israeli authorities by refusing to vacate illegal settlements. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/25/occupied-west-bank-aflame-as-israeli-settlers-refuse-land-return
Ben & Jerry’s to stop sales in occupied Palestinian territories : The Vermont-based ice cream maker says it recognizes ‘the concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners’. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/19/ben-jerrys-to-stop-selling-in-palestinian-territories
Israel will ‘act aggressively’ over Ben & Jerry’s ban, PM says https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/20/israel-will-act-aggressively-over-ben-jerrys-ban-pm-says
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett calls move by company to stop selling its ice cream in occupied Palestinian territories an ‘anti-Israel step’, adding that the move would have “serious consequences, legal and otherwise, and that it will act aggressively against all boycott actions directed against its citizens”.
The Ben & Jerry’s announcement was one of the highest-profile corporate rebukes of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 war. Most of the international community considers these settlements illegal under international law and an impediment to peace with the Palestinians.
Can Israel criminalise Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in the US?
Israel threatens legal attack using anti-BDS laws passed by many US states, Palestinian advocates see pivotal moment. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/23/can-israel-criminalise-ben-jerrys-ice-cream-in-the-us
The Israeli government is now threatening to use controversial anti-boycott laws that pro-Israel advocates have won in more than 30 US states to try to punish the ice cream maker for its decision.
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Ambassador to the US and the United Nations, followed up on July 20 announcing he had sent letters demanding action against Ben & Jerry’s to the governors of 35 US states seeking to reverse the company’s decision through economic pressure.
In the US, dozens of states and localities have passed so-called anti-BDS laws – a reference to the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement.
The laws vary from state to state but generally seek to empower local governments to ban or cancel contracts with companies – like Ben & Jerry’s – that come out in support of boycotts, sanctions, or divestment from Israel.
Proponents of anti-BDS laws claim that BDS is a form of anti-Semitism, and so such laws legislate against hate speech. Opponents claim that Israel and its supporters are engaging in lawfare by lobbying for anti-BDS laws that infringe upon the right to free speech. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws
NSO Group CEO Claims BDS Is Probably Behind Damning Investigation : “I don’t want to sound cynical now, but there are those who don’t want [Israel] to import ice cream or export technologies.” https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj8xe7/nso-group-ceo-claims-bds-is-probably-behind-damning-investigation
“Shalev Hulio, the CEO and cofounder of NSO, the Israeli surveillance company at the center of a bombshell investigation this week that found its tools have been used to spy on journalists, politicians, and human rights activists around the world, is now suggesting that the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement that’s trying to pressure Israel to end its occupation of Palestine is somehow behind the story.
Either it or Qatar.
Hulio mentioned the conspiracy in an interview with Israel Hayom, the free, right-wing daily newspaper funded by the casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who died earlier this year.”
Re: Sheldon Adelson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Adelson see donations
“
“Audacious Mossad spy operations around the world. The plucky “startup nation” home to reams of billion-dollar ideas. These are two drivers of Israel’s image abroad that its political and business leaders have long been happy to push.
That slick image appears to have taken a hit with new reports that once again Israeli-founded technology, like the Pegasus software from the firm NSO, has been used by governments around the world to allegedly hack the cellphones of human rights activists, journalists and others.” https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/25/tech/pegasus-hack-israel-reputation-intl-cmd/index.html
“An explosive spyware report shows limits of iOS, Android security : Amnesty International sheds alarming light on an NSO Group surveillance tool.” https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/07/an-explosive-spyware-report-shows-limits-of-ios-android-security/
Amnesty International’s Forensic Methodology Report: How to catch NSO Group’s Pegasus https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2021/07/forensic-methodology-report-how-to-catch-nso-groups-pegasus/
Israel Supreme Court to reach verdict on Sheikh Jarrah expulsions : Verdict expected in the final hearing that could lead to Palestinians being forcibly displaced in favor of Jewish settlers. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/2/israels-supreme-court-to-decide-on-sheikh-jarrah-expulsions
“Israeli forces have destroyed the home of a Palestinian family in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, days after the family tried to stave off the demolition by threatening to blow up the house.
Large numbers of Israeli police and special forces raided the Salhiyeh home and cordoned off the surrounding area at 3am (01:00 GMT) on Wednesday. The family told Al Jazeera that dozens of heavily armed forces broke into their home while they slept and assaulted family members, arresting six of them including the head of the household, Mahmoud Salhiyeh.
The demolition began at the dawn call to prayer at approximately 5am (03:00 GMT) during a rainstorm on one of the coldest nights of this year’s winter season. The family of 18 is now rendered homeless.
Israeli authorities have justified the demolition to build a special education school for the residents of the neighborhood.
“I’ve been in battle with them for 25 years, they sent me settlers who offered to buy the house and I did not agree”, Mahmoud Salhiyeh said. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/19/israeli-forces-demolish-palestinian-home-in-sheikh-jarrah
“Israeli police have stormed the grounds of a Jerusalem hospital to forcibly prevent a funeral march for Shireen Abu Akleh, the Al Jazeera journalist who was killed by Israeli forces while covering an Israeli army raid in Jenin on Wednesday.
TV images on Friday showed Abu Akleh‘s coffin nearly falling to the ground as police grabbed Palestinian flags from the crowd close to the procession outside St Louis French Hospital in occupied East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Reporting from the scene, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said the Israeli forces targeted mourners because they did not want them to walk with Abu Akleh’s coffin.
Police hit mourners holding the coffin with batons, almost causing it to drop, before eventually allowing it to be moved in a hearse. At least four people were arrested.” https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2022/5/13/journalist-shireen-abu-akleh (see photographs)
“Israel will not launch a criminal investigation into the killing of the US-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, which Palestinian officials and witnesses have blamed on Israeli soldiers.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces claimed that because Abu Aqleh was killed in an “active combat situation”, an immediate criminal investigation would not be launched, although an “operational inquiry” would continue.
According to a report in the Haaretz newspaper, the Israeli military police branch has accepted the assurances of Israeli troops that they were not aware she was in a village adjacent to the Jenin refugee camp when she was killed on 11 May.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/19/israel-will-not-hold-criminal-inquiry-into-killing-of-journalist-shireen-abu-aqleh
The Israeli military has identified a soldier’s rifle that may have killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, but said it cannot be certain unless the Palestinians turn over the bullet for analysis, a military official said Thursday.
Israel has called for a joint investigation with the Palestinians. But the Palestinians, who have the bullet, have refused, saying they don’t trust Israel. They say they are conducting their own investigation and they are ready to cooperate with any country except for Israel. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israeli-military-ids-gun-killed-journalist-84830681
“The Israeli government has failed to pass a bill that would renew and uphold the legal status of illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, marking a significant setback for the fragile coalition that could hasten its demise.
The failure to renew the bill on Monday highlighted the separate legal systems in the occupied West Bank, where nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers enjoy the benefits of Israeli citizenship and law while some 3 million Palestinians live under military rule that is now well into its sixth decade.
Some 500,000 Israeli settlers live in more than 120 settlements and outposts across the occupied West Bank that are considered illegal under international law.
The settlements, which are fortified, Jewish-only housing complexes, are continuing to expand in the occupied West Bank as well as occupied East Jerusalem. They are seen as a major obstacle to any potential deal with Israel.
Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property are common. Settlers are usually backed by armed Israeli forces when committing such attacks.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/6/israeli-coalition-fails-to-pass-bill-on-upholding-settler-law
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has pledged to oppose Israeli settlements or annexation in the occupied West Bank, as former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to return to power.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/4/blinken-warns-netanyahu-on-annexation-of-occupied-west-bank
Palestinians fear more illegal settlements will likely be built in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem under Netanyahu, who saw record settlement expansion during his 12-year period as prime minister until 2021.
Settlements are considered illegal under international laws and seen as an impediment to the realization of a future Palestinian state as part of the two-state solution.