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Amnesty: ‘Trigger-happy’ Israeli army and police use reckless force in the West Bank

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Written by Amnesty International Amnesty International
Published: 01 March 2014 01 March 2014


Israeli forces have displayed a callous disregard for human life by killing dozens of Palestinian civilians, including children, in the occupied West Bank over the past three years with near total impunity, said Amnesty International in a report published today.
The report, Trigger-happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank, describes mounting bloodshed and human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) as a result of the Israeli forces’ use of unnecessary, arbitrary and brutal force against Palestinians since January 2011.
In all cases examined by Amnesty International, Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers did not appear to be posing a direct and immediate threat to life. In some, there is evidence that they were victims of wilful killings, which would amount to war crimes.
“The report presents a body of evidence that shows a harrowing pattern of unlawful killings and unwarranted injuries of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the West Bank,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.
“The frequency and persistence of arbitrary and abusive force against peaceful protesters in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and police officers – and the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators – suggests that it is carried out as a matter of policy.”

Read more: Amnesty: ‘Trigger-happy’ Israeli army and police use reckless force in the West Bank

This Divestment Bill Hurts My Feelings

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Written by Remi Kanazi Remi Kanazi
Published: 19 February 2014 19 February 2014


Poem by Remi Kanazi Video by Suhel Nafar Audio by Andrew Felluss This Divestment Bill Hurts My Feelings this divestment bill hurts my feelings that Caterpillar bulldozer ended life in the body of an American citizen. drove her bones into the ground while a company cashed in on the sale . . .

Why Israel Fears the Boycott

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Written by OMAR BARGHOUTI OMAR BARGHOUTI
Published: 19 February 2014 19 February 2014

JERUSALEM — IF Secretary of State John Kerry’s attempts to revive talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority fail because of Israel’s continuing construction of illegal settlements, the Israeli government is likely to face an international boycott “on steroids,” as Mr. Kerry warned last August.

These days, Israel seems as terrified by the “exponential” growth of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (or B.D.S.) movement as it is by Iran’s rising clout in the region. Last June, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu effectively declared B.D.S. a strategic threat. Calling it the “delegitimization” movement, he assigned the overall responsibility for fighting it to his Strategic Affairs Ministry. But B.D.S. doesn’t pose an existential threat to Israel; it poses a serious challenge to Israel’s system of oppression of the Palestinian people, which is the root cause of its growing worldwide isolation.

The Israeli government’s view of B.D.S. as a strategic threat reveals its heightened anxiety at the movement’s recent spread into the mainstream. It also reflects the failure of the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s well-endowed “Brand Israel” campaign, which reduces B.D.S. to an image problem and employs culture as a propaganda tool, sending well-known Israeli figures around the world to show Israel’s prettier face.

[Read more on the NY Times website]

Community objections to PSU President Wim Wiewel's statement on the ASA boycott of Israeli institutions

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Written by AUPHR and others AUPHR and others
Published: 04 February 2014 04 February 2014

February 3, 2014

President Wim Wiewel

RE:  Objections to your statement on the ASA boycott of Israeli institutions

Dear President Wiewel,

As members of Portland State University’s Oregon community we are deeply disturbed by your recent statement on January 14th against the American Studies Association's boycott of Israeli academic institutions.   We oppose a number of declarations made in your statement.

First, the ASA resolution does nothing to curb academic freedom or the free exchange of ideas because it is not directed at individual Israeli academics but at institutions complicit in Israel's denial of fundamental human rights to Palestinians living in Israel, under occupation in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, and in the diaspora. Israeli academics are free to attend ASA-sponsored conferences as long as they are not being paid to attend by Israeli institutions. Your letter misrepresents the ASA's position and willfully ignores Israel's ongoing denial of academic freedom to Palestinians.

Read more: Community objections to PSU President Wim Wiewel's statement on the ASA boycott of Israeli...

Video: "Checkpoint" by Jasiri X

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Written by Jasiri X Jasiri X
Published: 31 January 2014 31 January 2014

This fabulous music video is a must see~

"Checkpoint" is based on the oppression and discrimination Jasiri X witnessed firsthand during his recent trip to Palestine and Israel "Checkpoint" is produced by Agent of Change, and directed by Haute Muslim. Download "Checkpoint" at https://jasirix.bandcamp.com/track/checkpoint


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