The latest violence between Israeli and Palestinian forces should come as no surprise. The issue of Palestinian statehood has been off the international agenda since US President Barack Obama effectively washed his hands of the issue. The Trump administration then focused on Israel’s relations with other Arab states at the expense of the Palestinians.
However, the tensions underlying the current violence have been building for some time and have the potential to become particularly serious.
In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers have been trying to seize control of Palestinian homes in Sheikh Jarrah, a historic part of the city. They have resorted to the Israeli Supreme Court, which usually supports the government and settler line in matters relating to the occupied Palestinian territories. The court’s judgement was expected this week, but was deferred.
But in towns across Israel, another important – and underreported – development is taking place. And it could change how we talk about Palestinians and Israelis.
Since May 9, 2021, thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel, numbering some 1.9 million people and often referred to as “Arab Israelis,” have taken to the streets to express support for their fellow Palestinians in Gaza and Jerusalem. Protests are taking place in both mixed Arab-Jewish cities like Haifa, Jaffa and Lod, known as Lydda to Palestinians, as well as in predominantly Palestinian cities and towns like Nazareth and Umm al-Fahm.
The size and scope of the demonstrations have surprised many political analysts who usually discuss these Palestinians as part of the Israeli social and political fabric, separate from Palestinians elsewhere.
RICHARD Allison (Letters, May 11) claims that unionist parties should have concentrated their attacks during the election on a clear litany of failures, amongst them a once world-renowned education system in disarray . This assertion about the shortcomings of Scottish education has been regularly trotted out during the course of the campaign. Where is his evidence for this claim apart from the recent Pisa figures, which are very limited in what they have to say about performance in our Scottish schools? (It is worth pointing out that such international comparisons only started in 2020. In addition, it is only comparatively recently that national exam results and school leaver destinations have been published. Claims of a previous world-beating reputation for Scottish education are simply anecdotal with no hard evidence to back them up.)
Hamas missiles target Israel s Ramon Airport in retaliation for aggression against Palestinians Thursday, 13 May 2021 2:36 PM
[ Last Update: Thursday, 13 May 2021 6:13 PM ] Planes are reflected in the facade of Ramon International Airport after an inauguration ceremony for the new airport, just outside the southern Red Sea resort city of Eilat, Israel, on January 21, 2019. (Photo by Reuters)
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance movement, Hamas, has targeted Israel s Ramon Airport near the Red Sea resort city of Eilat in the southern part of the Israeli occupied territories, suspending operations there.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas military wing, told Arabic-language al-Aqsa TV on Thursday afternoon that an indigenous Ayyash 250 missile was launched towards the airport, stressing that his group’s missiles can reach any target in the Occupied Territori
Links
This is viewer supported news. Please do your part today.Donate
The death toll in Gaza has reached at least 83, including 17 children, and hundreds of people have been injured, as Israel’s aerial bombardment of the besieged territory continues. Israel is now sending troops to the Gaza border for a possible ground invasion as many Palestinians are celebrating Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The Biden administration on Wednesday gave Israel a green light to continue its assault, and Israel has reportedly rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire, despite growing international condemnation. Issam Adwan, Gaza project manager for We Are Not Numbers, a youth-led initiative to share Palestinian stories with the wider world, says many international observers make the mistake of viewing the latest violence in isolation. “They think this war is the only violation of human rights Israel is doing to the people of Gaza. Over the past 15 years, we have witnes