UK Black Lives Matter rejects Israeli annexation of West Bank

BLM under fire from UK Board of Deputies, which accuses it of propagating an 'antisemitic trope'

Palestinians came out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement when Trayvon Martin was shot dead by police in Florida in 2012 (AFP)

By MEE and agencies Published date: 28 June 2020

The UK chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) said it "proudly" stands in solidarity with Palestinians and rejects Israel's plans to annex large areas of the West Bank, which it intends to carry out on 1 July.

Posting a series of tweets on Sunday, BLM also criticised British politics for being "gagged of the right to critique Zionism and Israel's settler-colonial pursuits".

The tweets led to criticism from senior British Jewish figures.

As Israel moves forward with the annexation of the West Bank, and mainstream British politics is gagged of the right to critique Zionism, and Israel’s settler colonial pursuits, we loudly and clearly stand beside our Palestinian comrades.

FREE PALESTINE.

THE TWO WORDS THAT ZIONISTS WON'T SAY 

— #BlackLivesMatterUK (@ukblm) June 28, 2020

The Board of Deputies president, Marie van der Zyl, described the "gagging" comment as "beyond disappointing" and accused BLM of propagating an "antisemitic trope".

"[A] supposedly anti-racist organisation has leaned into the antisemitic trope that British politics is 'gagged' in terms of debating Israel, a claim particularly preposterous because Israel is one of the most-discussed foreign policy issues in the country," van der Zyl told the Jewish News.

Following van der Zyl's criticism, BLM took to its 60,000 followers, reiterated its support, and shared a quote from renowned academic and former Black Panther Angela Davis, who has long supported the Palestinian cause.

"One more time for those at the back," BLM UK wrote on Twitter.

"From the British Black Panthers to Black Lives Matter, solidarity and learning from Palestinians in the fight against systematic racism has always been part of our shared struggle and shared strength."

The growing row between BLM UK and the UK Board of Deputies comes only days after the UK Labour Party fired shadow education secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey for alleged anti-semitism.

One more time for those at the back.

From the British Black Panthers to Black Lives Matter, solidarity and learning from Palestinians in the fight against systemic racism has always been part of our shared struggle, and shared strength. pic.twitter.com/DlwBydqqNe

— #BlackLivesMatterUK (@ukblm) June 28, 2020

Long-Bailey shared an article that suggested that the US police officer who killed George Floyd had received training from Israeli forces.

The article in question was a wide-ranging interview with British actor Maxine Peake for the Independent website, which was published on Thursday.

In the interview, Peake is quoted as saying: "Systemic racism is a global issue... The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd's neck, that was learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services."


Israel's planned annexation of the Jordan Valley: Why it matters+ Show



An initial version of the article referred to a 2016 Amnesty International report on training programmes for US law enforcement officers in Israel. The reference has since been removed.

In a statement, Amnesty International said it had "documented appalling crimes under international law and human rights violations meted out to Palestinians by members of the Israeli security forces".

But it said it had never reported that "neck kneeling" was a tactic taught by Israeli secret services.

'We demand change': US Palestinians issue list of principles for candidates

'I do not vote against somebody. I vote for somebody. Right now, the Biden campaign has not earned my vote'
- Zeina Ashrawi Hutchison

Statement signed by dozens of prominent US  Palestinians calls for conditioning aid to Israel, returning US embassy to Tel Aviv and recognising right to boycott

"The Palestinian people possess an inalienable right to self-determination," statement says (AFP/File photo)By Ali Harb in  Washington

Published date: 27 June 2020

A group of prominent Palestinian Americans has issued a list of "principles" outlining its demands of candidates running in US elections. It includes imposing conditions on military aid to Israel, recognising the right to boycott and relocating the embassy from Jerusalem.

The statement, released on Friday, effectively renews calls for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to ensure accountability for Israel's abuses against Palestinians.

"The Palestinian people possess an inalienable right to self-determination," reads the first of 13 principles.

The preamble of the statement says Palestinian Americans' "support for candidates to federal offices shall be determined by their level of recognition and agreement with these tenets".

The statement also stresses the right of return for Palestinian refugees, ending the blockade on Gaza and reversing any recognition of Israeli annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank.

"United States military aid to Israel should be conditioned on ending Israeli practices that violate Palestinian rights and contravene international law," it reads.
Palestinian narrative

Zeina Ashrawi Hutchison, an activist who helped organise the declaration, said the statement aims to present a united Palestinian American front with a list of basic demands that tells politicians where the community stands and what they need to do to gain its support.

She added that it was important for Palestinians in the United States to present their own narrative at a time when the Biden campaign is not taking notice of their perspective.

"We felt completely ostracised, completely alienated and ignored by the Biden campaign," Ashrawi Hutchison told MEE. "Our voice was never heard, and we were sidelined on a conversation that pertains directly to us."

The statement was signed by 120 Palestinian Americans, including activists, heads of organisations, professors and writers.

It comes less than a week before a 1 July deadline that the Israeli government had set for annexing parts of the West Bank and amid growing calls for US Democrats to take a consequential stance against Israeli policies towards Palestinians.

But Biden has categorically ruled out imposing conditions on the $3.8bn yearly US military aid to Israel - a proposal that was championed by Senator Bernie Sanders.

The former vice president's campaign sparked outrage from Palestine solidarity activists earlier this year when it released a plan for Jewish-American communities that stressed "unwavering" support to Israel and denounced the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as antisemitic.

In May, Tony Blinken, a top foreign policy adviser to Biden, repeated an Israeli saying seen as a racist trope against Arabs and Palestinians when addressing a pro-Israel group.

"In the category of 'Never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity,' I think a reminder to Palestinians... that they can and should do better," Blinken said, echoing the words of the late Israeli diplomat Abba Eban who said in 1973: "The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

Ignoring Palestinian voices

The only time the Biden campaign has tried to address the pro-Palestinian rights community was through a single paragraph in a lengthy statement on Muslim-American issues. "As President, Joe will actively engage Israelis and Palestinians alike to help them find ways to live together in peace, freedom, security, and prosperity and to champion a two-state solution," the paragraph reads in part.

Palestinian and Arab Americans have long warned against painting the Palestinian cause as a religious conflict.

Earlier this month, several Palestinian activists left a virtual meeting with the Biden campaign's Muslim outreach director, demanding to be addressed by a senior foreign policy official.

"The Palestinian cause is not a religious issue. It's a moral issue. It's a human rights issue," Ashrawi Hutchison told MEE.

"And it's incumbent upon not just the Palestinians, but Americans and Israelis and the people of the world, to stand up against the apartheid and ethnic cleansing that is continually happening for decades with impunity."

She added that diminishing Palestinians' struggle for equal rights to a religious issue is offensive, as it hijacks the voices of secular and Christian Palestinians.

"We do deserve an equal seat at the table with any campaign but particularly in this case, the Biden campaign."

The Biden campaign has not responded to multiple requests for comment by MEE since May.

The presumptive Democratic nominee is rising in public opinion polls as President Donald Trump struggles to deal with the coronavirus crisis and renewed racial justice protests.

But Ashrawi Hutchison said Biden should not take the votes of Palestinian Americans for granted simply because he is not Trump, urging the campaign to look at the list of demands seriously.

"Our right to vote is extremely important... It's time that we demand change. I do not vote against somebody. I vote for somebody. Right now, the Biden campaign has not earned my vote," Ashrawi Hutchison told MEE.

Palestinian-Israeli Joint List urges US Democrats to stop annexation

Annexation would increase Israeli control over occupied territories and negate prospects of a viable Palestinian state, legislators warn

Any annexation of parts of West Bank would violate 'universal values and norms', 

Joint List says (AFP/File photo)

By Ali Harb Published date: 25 June 2020 

Palestinian members of the Israeli parliament are calling on US Democrats to "take a firm stand" against Israel's plan to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank, and use "all the tools" at their disposal to prevent it.

In a letter addressed to Democratic members of the US Congress on Thursday, members of the Joint List, which represents Palestinian citizens of Israel, said annexation would be a violation of "universal values and norms".

"We would respectfully suggest that this undermines American interests. We caution that any such move will destabilise the region further and will heighten the tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, and between Israel and its neighbors, notably Jordan," reads the letter, led by Knesset Member Aida Touma-Sliman and signed by all 15 Joint list legislators.

The Joint List is the third-largest party in the Israeli parliament. The bloc's statement comes less than a week before the 1 July deadline for the Israeli government to start the process of annexing parts of the occupied West Bank.
Blaming Trump

The Palestinian members of the Israeli parliament framed their government's plans as an initiative enabled by the Democrats' rival currently occupying the White House - Republican President Donald Trump.

"The act of annexation was endorsed and encouraged by the current US administration in the context of its so-called 'Peace to Prosperity' plan," the letter said.

"Let us be clear, without the administration’s plan, annexation would unlikely be considered by the Israeli leadership. That plan was adopted by all of the factions comprising the new governing coalition in Israel - some with more enthusiasm, some with polite reservations."

Trump unveiled his "deal of the century" plan earlier this year, which would allow Israel to retain all of its West Bank settlements, the existence of which the International Court of Justice has said is contrary to international law.

The scheme, which has been dismissed by Palestinian leaders, also promises Palestinians financial assistance and recognition of statehood over a fragmented territory with no control over its borders or its air space.

Still, the US administration has not made an explicit endorsement of unilateral annexation outside of the framework of a negotiated solution.

On Thursday, a US official told Reuters that the administration had not made a "final decision" on annexation. On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Palestinians for rejecting Trump's plan and referred to annexation as an Israeli matter.

"The decisions about Israel extending sovereignty towards these places are decisions for the Israelis to make," Pompeo said.

Democratic letters in Congress

Democrats have received increasing calls from human rights groups to help prevent annexation by insisting Israel should face repercussions if it goes ahead.

So far, the party has only verbally denounced Israel's plans. The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has categorically ruled out setting conditions on US aid to Israel.

In the Senate, a letter warning that annexation would "erode the strong support among the American people for the special relationship and diplomatic partnership with the United States that Israel currently enjoys" only gained the support of 21 legislators.

Democrats in the US House of Representatives are also circulating a letter expressing "deep concern" over Israel's plans.



'Between a rock and a hard place': Palestine activists slam Biden

Palestine solidarity activists have long called on Democrats to apply meaningful pressure on Israel, using the vast leverage that Washington has over the Middle Eastern country, including its international diplomatic support and military aid worth $3.8bn a year.

Palestinian-American analyst Omar Baddar told Middle East Eye last week that annexation is already a reality on the ground that has been "effectively enabled by Democrats".

"It seems as though there is no line that Israel can cross that would cause a majority of Democrats in Congress to start talking about accountability," Baddar said.

He added that it was "unbelievable" Democrats were still using outdated terminology that failed to recognise the bitter harshness of Israel's plan to officially declare its "theft of Palestinian land" on the world stage.

However much of the Palestinian territory is annexed - a few or all settlement blocs, or the entire Jordan Valley - the Joint List warned of dangerous consequences.

"It will mark the crossing of a new Rubicon in the intensification of the Israeli control over Palestinian lands taken in 1967, in negating the prospect of a viable, sovereign and independent Palestinian state, in expansion of the illegal settlement project and in increasing human rights violations in the occupied West Bank," wrote the Palestinian members of the Israeli parliament.
Discrimination

Their letter also warned that annexation would hurt Palestinian citizens of Israel as well as Palestinians living in the occupied territories.

"As a parliamentary faction representing mainly the Palestinian minority within Israel, we know that our constituents will be exposed to heightened racist incitement and discrimination due to the pending plans in the West Bank," the Joint List members said.

"Structural institutionalized discrimination is a reality for Palestinians both inside Israel and Palestinians under occupation; its manifestation and practices differ - but acts such as home demolition, racist legislation or police violence have little respect for the Green Line."

The legislators also paid tribute to racial justice protests unfolding in the United States, saying that Palestinians were inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

"We would like to express our unequivocal support for the struggle for equality and to achieve historic as well as contemporary racial justice in the US," the letter reads.

"The Black Lives Matter movement is inspiring and empowering our struggle here for justice and equality for all."

Critics of Democratic leaders in Congress say the party's seemingly unshakable support for Israel puts it at odds with a base that is increasingly sympathetic towards Palestinians.

The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), a Washington-based advocacy group, said earlier this month that Democrats must listen to their supporters on ending militarism at home and abroad.

"More important than establishment Democrats is their base and the support among young progressives, especially Black and progressives of colour, for Palestinian rights and freedom," USCPR manager of policy and advocacy campaigns Sana Siddiq told MEE.

"We're in the middle of a nationwide conversation, led by the Movement for Black Lives, about divesting from violence and harm and investing in community needs and safety. That conversation is part of the DNA of the movement for Palestinian rights, and divesting from militarism, including ending US military funding for Israeli violence, is something that Democrats are going to have to get on board with if they want to remain relevant."

US Democrats circulate Israel letter expressing 'concern' over annexation
Letter says annexation may jeopardise Israel's relations with Europe and Arab countries, but mentions no consequences for US-Israeli ties


Letter frames annexation as bad for Israel, addresses its government in advisory tone (AFP/File photo)

By Ali Harb in Washington Published date: 18 June 2020

Democrats in the US House of Representatives are circulating a letter cautioning Israel against annexing parts of the Palestinian West Bank, with a statement that expresses "deep concern" but fails to mention any potential consequences from Washington.

The letter, first revealed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Tuesday, comes as an Israeli government deadline approaches for starting the process of annexation on 1 July.

The letter, addressed to Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cautions Israel that "unilateral annexation" may harm its relations with Arab neighbours and "European friends", but does not refer to US-Israeli ties.

"As committed partners in supporting and protecting the special US-Israel relationship, we express our deep concern with the stated intention to move ahead with any unilateral annexation of West Bank territory, and we urge your government to reconsider plans to do so," it says.

The statement follows a somewhat more strongly worded letter from the Senate, which failed to garner any support beyond 21 senators.

The Senate letter warned that annexation "would likely erode the strong support among the American people for the special relationship and diplomatic partnership with the United States that Israel currently enjoys."

According to Peter Beinart, of Jewish Currents, the Democratic senators behind the letter watered it down in order to make it more appealing to their pro-Israel colleagues. The original draft, led by senators Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen and Tim Kaine, contained a sentence saying annexation may diminish popular support for US security assistance to Israel.

The letter still failed to get the signatures of even half of the Democratic caucus.

The now-circulating House letter seems to be a weaker version of the already watered-down Senate statement.

Enabling Israel

Palestinian-American activist Ahmad Abuznaid called the House Democratic effort a "joke" for failing to put any pressure on the Israeli government.

He said the US enabling of Israel's policies against the Palestinians is not merely akin to letting friends drive drunk, but is more "like a parent continuing to support and fund their child’s alcoholism and reckless endangerment of others".

"The US actually has the opportunity to eliminate these types of decisions by taking advantage of the enormous power dynamics at play here," Abuznaid told MEE.

"The United States diplomatically at the United Nations and across the world defends and supports Israel. The United States supports Israel to the tune of $4bn a year."

The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), a Washington-based advocacy group, also voiced disappointment over the letter.

"Israel is formalising its long-time, de facto annexation of Palestinian lands because it knows that the only thing the US government will express is 'concern' for its violations of international law, Palestinian rights, lives, and land while simultaneously providing Israel with political cover at the United Nations and writing them blank check after blank check," USCPR manager of policy and advocacy campaigns Sana Siddiq told MEE.

"It is long past time for accountability and divesting from military funding to Israel."

Top congressional Democrats and presidential nominee Joe Biden have repeatedly ruled out conditioning aid to Israel to pressure it to end its abuses against Palestinians, an idea that has been championed by Senator Bernie Sanders and other progressives.

The letter is being pushed by Democratic House members Jan Schakowsky, Ted Deutch, David Price and Bradley Schneider.

Two states

The statement stresses support for a two-state solution and emphasises US-Israeli ties in an advisory tone that frames annexation as bad for Israel, but renders its consequences for Palestinians as a secondary concern.

"We remain steadfast in our belief that pursuing two states for two peoples is essential to ensuring a secure, Jewish, democratic Israel able to live side-by-side, in peace and mutual recognition, with an independent, viable, de-militarized Palestinian state," the letter reads.

In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted to partition historic Palestine, which was then under British control, into two states, one for Palestinians and another for Jews. The following year, Israel declared its independence and took control of 78 percent of the land - far more that allowed by the UN partition plan.

The Palestinian Authority has long sought to establish its own state on the remaining 22 percent for what had previously been the British Mandate of Palestine - namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.



'Between a rock and a hard place': Palestine activists slam Biden


Israel then took control of those areas, along with Syria’s Golan Heights, during the 1967 War. While occupation is temporary by nature, Israel began building Jewish settlements in the newly conquered areas in violation of international law, which prohibits countries from transferring their civilians into occupied territories.

Israel subsequently annexed East Jerusalem in 1980 and the Golan Heights a year later. But the international community, including the United States, has refused to legitimise Israel’s claims to those areas.

Still, over the past three years, President Donald Trump reversed decades of US policy by declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and recognising Israel’s claim of sovereignty over the Golan - to the cheers of many top Democrats in Congress.

And now his administration is refusing to publicly reject Israel’s West Bank annexation plans.

State Department and White House officials have said they support annexation within the context of Trump’s "deal of the century" plan, which would allow Israel to keep all of its West Bank settlements in exchange for recognising a disjointed Palestinian state without control over its borders or airspace.
International law

Legal scholars argue that annexation would not only be illegal, it would breach a fundamental tenet of international law that is at the core of the modern world order - the prohibition of acquiring land by force.

For example, in 2018 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was foreign minister at the time, said the Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea threatened global security.

"The security of every nation depends on the essential principle that countries should not change borders or acquire territory by force. That is why the fate of Crimea matters to all of us," he wrote.

But for pro-Israel Democrats, the looming annexation of the West Bank raises a set of political challenges at home.

Many US politicians have long balanced their unquestioning support for Israel with advocacy for the two-state solution.


Live discussion: How will the world respond to Israel's annexation plans?Read More »

Establishing a viable Palestinian state is already difficult to achieve because of the continuous growth of settlements; it would be all but impossible if Israel claims sovereignty over lands between and around Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank.

Besides finishing off the almost-dead two-state solution, such a blatant violation of international law would pressure Democratic politicians to criticise Israel at a time when their base is growing increasingly more sympathetic towards Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Trump has been promoting his anti-Palestinian policies in an attempt to court pro-Israel Democrats, including a US Jewish community that traditionally favours Democratic candidates and liberal policies.

Still, he received a resounding rebuke last year after accusing Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats of being "very disloyal" - perpetuating the antisemitic trope of dual loyalty.

Many Democrats who disagree with Trump on most policy positions have been reluctant to meaningfully oppose annexation.

Abuznaid said centrist Democrats are trying to be close to the pro-Trump Israeli government at the expense of their own base, particularly young people who recognise and support Palestinians’ human rights.

"Right now we see such a strong alignment between Netanyahu and Trump, and the Democrats would love to be Netanyahu’s best friends again," he told MEE.

"The Democrats want to please a war criminal, someone who has allegations of corruption via his own government. They would like to get close to that kind of leader while their base and the younger people are telling them: 'We are done supporting apartheid. We are done financing the occupation of Palestinian land and the Palestinian people'."

Why aren't Jordanians protesting against Israeli annexation plan?
Coronavirus restrictions have dampened public demonstrations in Jordan, but government statements have reassured the public on the state's opposition to Israel's plans

Jordanians, usually swift to express solidarity with their Palestinian neighbours, have left streets quiet since Israel announced plans to annex parts of the West Bank (AFP)

By Mohammad Ersan in AmmanPublished date: 28 June 2020 

For a public usually swift to express solidarity with their Palestinian neighbours, the recent popular silence has been deafening in Jordan, with nary a protest since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on 1 March that his government was planning to annex large areas of the occupied West Bank by 1 July.


Israeli annexation: How will Jordan respond?Read More »

On 21 June, MP Saud Abu Mahfouz, a member of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) party, stood alone outside the US Embassy in Amman to express his rejection of the annexation and US President Donald Trump's much-criticised Israel-Palestine plan - also known as the "deal of the century".

This one-man protest has been the only one since the annexation plans were made public, despite Jordanians having taken to the streets en masse in the past to oppose a gas deal with Israel.

So how can this silence be explained? Political and media sources tell Middle East Eye that the continued precautions amid the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with a strong stance by the Jordanian leadership, have played a large role in dampening public uproar in the streets.

However, some said they worry that the strict measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 could become a convenient excuse to discourage public displays of dissent in the country.
Paralysed by the pandemic

In March, Jordanian authorities issued strict orders in order to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, earning praise from citizens for taking swift action to contain the spread of the illness in the country.


With annexation plan looming, Israel grapples with reality of apartheid

Read More »

Among these new regulations, meetings of 20 or more people have been forbidden.

Jordanian political parties have pointed to these restrictions on public meetings to explain their relative inaction following Netanyahu's annexation plans.

"The reason for the absence of protests is a medical one. The defence orders prevent more than 20 persons from meeting. This has not changed even though the pandemic has been under control," IAF secretary-general Murad Adaileh told MEE.

"The annexation plan affects Jordan's national security and demolishes what is known as the two-state solution," he said. "That is why the government must stop the defence orders. We are studying how to hold a protest while respecting distancing and other safety health concerns."

Left-wing parties have also been relatively inactive, not going beyond issuing the usual denunciations.

But for Abdel Majid Dandis, a politburo member for the left-wing Wihda (Unity) Party, "the health restrictions due to the coronavirus are not the only reason for the restrictions of popular protests against the annexation plans".

"The ban on large gatherings because of the coronavirus is a factor that has left an impact on political activities," he said. "But a much more important factor has been the general restrictions on freedoms, especially the freedom of expression. This restriction has left a strong impact."

Dandis referred to the detention of the secretary-general of Wihda, Said Diab, who was referred to Jordan's cybercrime unit by the government because of an article he wrote on the occasion of Jordan's Independence Day on 25 May.

'The government needs to reflect the people’s mindset, which refuses all plans that aim at normalisation'

- Mohammad al-Absi, activist

In his article, Diab called on Jordan to free itself of the influence of foreign states, particularly from the West, and to stand up more to Zionists and Israel supporters in the region.

Jordan's attorney general decided that Diab should be detained, but the Wihda leader has since been transferred to hospital for a heart operation.

Despite not taking to the streets, Jordanian political parties, whether Islamists, leftists or nationalists, have been calling on the government to cancel the gas deal with Israel as a response to the annexation plan.

Mohammad al-Absi, the leader of a campaign entitled "The gas of the enemy is an occupation" called for permission to hold protests against annexation, "because it is a part of the rejected deal of the century".

"The government needs to reflect the people's mindset, which refuses all plans that aim at normalisation" of relations with Israel, Absi told MEE.
Strong official position

In spite of these concerns, the Jordanian government has expressed strong rejection of Israel's annexation plans.



Saeb Erekat: Stop treating Israel as a state above the law and end annexation

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In May, King Abdullah told German magazine Der Spiegel: "I do not want to make any threats and create an atmosphere of controversy, but we are considering all options... We agree with many countries in Europe and with the international community that the law of the fittest should not apply in the Middle East."

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz has openly discussed the likelihood of conflict with Israel if it chose to go forward with annexation.

"The annexation that the Israeli occupation is planning to execute in the West Bank will bring conflict and tension," Razzaz said in a speech broadcast on 21 June. "We are facing two paths... either the path of peace or the path of conflict."

Omar Kallab, a Jordanian writer and TV anchor, believes that the government's stance has left a mark and lessened the desire among citizens to go out and protest.

"The strong position expressed by the king has satisfied the aspirations of many and has left little room for people to protest," Kallab told MEE. "That is why the situation now is very different than when the Bahrain workshop [for the Trump plan in June 2019] took place.

"A clear and unambiguous official political position relaxes the activists, and when the coronavirus pandemic put [on] restrictions, people agreed to refrain from demonstrating because they were satisfied with the king's position."

For Kallab, the "conflict" alluded to by Razzaz is open-ended.

"All options are open, and the doctrine of the Jordanian military regarding the struggle with Israel has not changed," the journalist said.

'Palestinian lives matter': Killing of autistic man by Israeli police draws George Floyd parallels

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The killing of an autistic Palestinian by Israeli police has sparked protests by both Palestinians and Israelis, drawing comparisons with the death of African-American George Floyd in the United States.

A Palestinian man walks past a mural depicting George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis police custody, in Gaza City June 18, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Iyad al-Halaq, 32, was on his way to volunteer at a special needs school in Jerusalem’s Old City on May 30 when police chased him and shot him dead, suspecting him of carrying a weapon.

“The boy surrendered and he lay on the ground like a baby in his mother’s womb,” Kheiry al-Halaq said of his son, whom police said was found to be unarmed.

“They shed the blood of an innocent young man who did not experience much from this life ... he was one of God’s weakest creatures,” his mother, Rana al-Halaq, said from her son’s bedroom, surrounded by his possessions and a poster of him.

Police are investigating the shooting and two officers have given testimony, a police spokesman said.

Both Floyd, 46, and Halaq were from communities that often complain of police brutality and racism.

loyd died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while detaining him on May 25. He was unarmed and his death has led to protests around the world.

Demonstrations for Halaq have been held in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, where protesters lit candles and chanted “Palestinian lives matter”, in what they called an act of solidarity with African-Americans.

Palestinian artist Taqi Spateen has painted murals of Floyd and Halaq on a concrete wall Israel built through parts of the West Bank. The painting of Halaq is captioned, in English: “Not only Floyd. Iyad Hallaq too”.

“Both men were killed by the arrogance of racism,” Spateen said.

Halaq’s killing drew condolences from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called it a “tragedy”.

Palestinians have long complained of heavy-handed tactics by police and troops using lethal force in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.


The Israeli rights group B’Tselem says that of the 133 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in 2019, 56 “were not taking part in hostilities” and 28 were minors.

Salem Barahmeh, a Palestinian rights advocate in the West Bank city of Ramallah, said he believed Israeli police officers might be lightly punished for Halaq’s death.

“But a proper charge? I don’t have much hope,” he said. “It won’t be the justice that Iyad al-Halaq deserves.”


Reporting by Sinan Abu Mayzer and Suheir Sheikh, Additional reporting and writing by Rami Ayyub, Editing by Timothy Heritage

Palestinian leaders struggle to mobilise street against annexation

Issued on: 29/06/2020 - TOMORROW'S NEWS TODAY 

Palestinian demonstrators turned out in small numbers for a demonstration against Israeli annexation plans early this month ABBAS MOMANI AFP/File
Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP)

With loudspeakers mounted, Palestinian flags unfurled and civil servants allowed off work, everything appeared set for a large protest in Ramallah against Israel's annexation plans in the occupied West Bank.

But only 200 people turned up for the June 8 demonstration, in a sign of the struggles the Palestinian Authority (PA) has faced generating outrage on the street against the prospective Israeli moves.

International condemnation of possible Israeli annexations has mounted ahead of July 1, when the Jewish state could take its first steps toward implementing part of a US-proposed Middle East peace plan.

President Donald Trump's proposals, rejected outright by the Palestinians, pave the way for annexing key parts of the West Bank, including settlements long considered illegal by the majority of the international community.

But on Palestinian streets, mobilisation against looming Israeli actions has been muted.

"There is fatigue," Palestinian analyst Nour Odeh told AFP.

"Fatigue from the usual -- to stand in Ramallah and wait for the cameras to show how angry we are," she added.

"You're talking to yourself, and then what?"

There was a substantially larger rally in the West Bank city of Jericho on Monday, where crowds sang in unison and hoisted banners declaring "Palestine is not for sale," in condemnation of the Trump plan.

The crowd of several thousand was brought to the protest site on buses chartered by the event organisers -- the Palestine Liberation Organization and Fatah party -- but many left even before the speeches began.

Odeh said the malaise was driven in part by frustration with Palestinian leaders who "promised to deliver peace through negotiation, (but) they failed."

- 'No power' -

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six Day War.

The 1993 Oslo peace accords were designed to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establish the scope of Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.

But nearly three decades on, doubts have grown among some Palestinians about their leaders' ability to secure a deal with Israel that would be accepted on the Palestinian streets.

"The PA is so weak! It has no power," said a farmer who requested anonymity in the Jordan Valley, a strategically crucial West Bank area targeted for annexation in the Trump plan.

For Ghassan Khatib, an academic and former PA official, signs of apathy about the prospect of annexation reveal a widening "gap" between the Palestinian people and their leaders.

Khatib blames this gap in part on "the absence of elections," last held in 2006 and on a disconnect between an ageing Palestinian leadership and a young population.

The 2006 election came a year before Islamist group Hamas took power in the Gaza strip. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah party is Hamas's rival, has previously pledged to hold elections on multiple occasions but without following through.

A poll published this week by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre (JMCC) and the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung foundation, found that 83 percent of Palestinians believe it is important to hold an election.

Asked "who do you trust most?", only 13 percent of respondents answered Abbas, who is 85 years old, while 76 percent described the PA he leads as corrupt.

- 'The street will lead' -

Khatib noted that the annexation threat comes as Palestinians face worsening economic conditions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, along with a new surge in West Bank infections.

"People have too many problems over their heads in this period" to mobilise properly, according to Khatib.

He added that some among the Palestinian public see annexation as a continuation of Israel's long-running campaign of "consolidating occupation," including the regular construction of new Jewish settlements.

"They (might) think (annexation) is not a measure that is going to have a dramatic impact on their day-to-day life," he said.

Odeh however cautioned against using the scale of recent demonstrations as a "barometer" for the Palestinian reaction to concrete annexation moves by Israel.

"People are not waiting for instructions (from officials). The street will lead," she said.

"Nobody predicted the First Intifada," she added, referring to the Palestinian uprising that began in 1987.

© 2020 AFP

Thousands in Israel hold muted Gay Pride events

Issued on: 28/06/2020 -
 

A participant wearing a rainbow-themed mask at the annual Jerusalem Pride parade amid the COVID-19 pandemic MENAHEM KAHANA AFPJerusalem (AFP)

Thousands took part in muted LGBT events across Israel on Sunday as the usually larger gatherings were cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions.

In Tel Aviv, home to the Middle East's biggest annual Pride parade, revellers gathered at Rabin Square for a concert featuring local stars including transgender Eurovision winner Dana International.

An hour's drive away, police deployed in force to secure the parallel Jerusalem event, just shy of five years after a participant was murdered by a Jewish religious extremist.

On July 30, 2015, teenager Shira Banki was stabbed to death during the parade by ultra-Orthodox Jew Yishai Shlissel, who also wounded six others.

Police arrested 27 people before Sunday's event "to avoid any incidents", a spokesman said.

The parade began with several hundred people observing a minute's silence in Banki's memory and that of "all victims of homophobia".

Pride events also took place in the northern city of Haifa and Beersheva in the south, with all four taking place under the strapline "the revolution is not over".

The date was chosen to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Gay Pride parade in New York on June 28, 1970.

Around the world, the LGBT community and their supporters took many events online on Saturday, responding to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

With Israel still suffering hundreds of new COVID-19 infections a day, the police imposed limits on attendance at the country's events.

The country has reported over 23,000 cases of the disease, including 318 deaths.

Israel's parliament currently has six openly gay members, a record in a country where a sizeable ultra-orthodox Jewish population is deeply against LGBT rights.

Thousands in Israel attend muted Gay Pride events
Pride events take place in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Beersheva under the slogan, 'The revolution is not over'

Mask-clad participants take part in annual Jerusalem Pride event amid Covid-19 pandemic on Sunday (AFP)

MEE and agencies Published date: 28 June 2020

Thousands took part in muted LGBT events across Israel on Sunday as the usually larger parades and gatherings were toned down or cancelled because of coronavirus restrictions.

In Tel Aviv, usually home to the Middle East's biggest annual Gay Pride parade, revellers instead gathered at Rabin Square for a concert featuring local stars, including transgender Eurovision winner Dana International.

An hour's drive away, police deployed in force to secure the parallel Jerusalem event, just shy of five years after a participant was murdered by a Jewish religious extremist, AFP said.



Over 130 filmmakers to boycott Tel Aviv’s LGBT film festivalRead More »
On 30 July 2015, teenager Shira Banki was stabbed to death during the parade by ultra-Orthodox Jew Yishai Shlissel, who also wounded six others. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Police detained 27 people before Sunday's event "to avoid any incidents", a spokesman said.

On Saturday, a few dozen right-wing protesters demonstrated outside the home of Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon against the municipality’s support for the event, Haaretz said.

The parade began with several hundred people observing a minute's silence in Banki's memory and that of "all victims of homophobia".

Pride events also took place in the northern city of Haifa and Beersheva in the south, with all four taking place under the slogan: "The revolution is not over."

The date was chosen to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Gay Pride parade in New York on 28 June 1970.

Around the world, the LGBT community and their supporters held many events online in response to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

With Israel still suffering hundreds of new Covid-19 infections a day, the police imposed limits on attendance at the country's events.

Israel has reported more than 23,000 cases of the disease, including 318 deaths.

Israel's parliament currently has six openly gay members, a record in a country where a sizeable ultra-orthodox Jewish population is deeply against LGBT rights.


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Socialist Anne Hidalgo declares victory in re-election as Paris mayor

Issued on: 28/06/2020

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo reacts to victory in the second round of the mayoral elections, in Paris, France, June 28, 2020. © Christian Hartmann, REUTERS

Text by:FRANCE 24

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo declared victory in her fight to win re-election in the French capital on Sunday, which will allow her to oversee the 2024 Summer Olympics.
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Hidalgo, a Socialist Party member, beat conservative candidate Rachida Dati in France’s municipal elections, according to estimations based on partial results. She was first elected as Paris mayor in 2014.

She is backed by the Europe Ecology – The Greens party (EELV), which gained strong influence nationwide in Sunday’s voting.

Votre confiance sera notre force. Merci Paris ! pic.twitter.com/5g5o9VXZhi— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) June 28, 2020

The second round of the municipal elections, which had been postponed amid the coronavirus crisis, has seen a record low turnout amid concerns over the pandemic.

Only 40 percent of voters cast ballots as French voters were required to wear masks, maintain social distancing while in queues and carry their own pens to sign voting registers.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, in charge of organising the elections, said that “today, everywhere across France, health measures ... were able to be respected. That is a satisfaction.” Yet he “regretted” the low turnout.

Macron's government under the spotlight

Voting was suspended after the first round of the nationwide municipal elections on March 15, which produced decisive outcomes in 30,000 mostly small communes. French President Emmanuel Macron's critics say he shouldn't have allowed the first round to go ahead at all, since it was held just as infections were exploding across Europe and just two days before France introduced sweeping nationwide lockdown measures.

The spread of the coronavirus has slowed significantly in France in recent weeks and almost all restrictions on social and business activity have been gradually lifted over the last month. France has reported nearly 200,000 confirmed cases and 29,781 deaths in the pandemic but experts believe all reported figures are undercounts due to limited testing and missed mild cases.

The elections, though ostensibly focused on local concerns, are also seen as a key political indicator ahead of the 2022 French presidential election.

Macron had said he wasn't considering the elections as a pro- or anti-government vote.

Yet a government reshuffle is expected in the coming weeks, as Macron seeks a new political boost amid the economic difficulties prompted by the virus crisis.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)


Anne Hidalgo: anti-car Socialist mayor of Paris

Issued on: 28/06/2020

A victorious Anne Hidalgo after being elected to another term as Paris mayor

 JOEL SAGET AFP


Paris (AFP)

Anne Hidalgo, re-elected Paris mayor on Sunday, is a Spanish-born socialist who has waged a divisive but ambitious campaign to push cars out of the centre of the French capital.

Hidalgo, 61, became in 2014 the first-ever woman to head the French capital's city hall that had once been the political springboard for late president Jacques Chirac.

She doggedly rose through the ranks despite having been told as a girl that her Spanish roots would forever hold her back.

Retaining the Paris mayor position is a boost for the left in France after its dismal showing in the 2017 presidential election.

As mayor, Hidalgo has pushed to reduce car use in the capital and boost biking.

She has reduced lanes and speed limits, closing off dozens of streets to cars completely.

In her latest campaign, she has proposed transforming 60,000 roadside parking spaces into cycling lanes.

But the move has proved controversial among many drivers who complain the city is a perpetual building site.

Claiming victory on Sunday, Hidalgo thanked Parisians for choosing "a Paris that breathes, a Paris that is more agreeable to live in, a more caring city that leaves no one by the wayside."

Hidalgo has also pledged to improve sanitation in the city plagued by rats, bed bugs and dirty streets.

Her unsuccessful challenger Agnes Buzyn of President Emmanuel Macron's Republic on the Move (LREM) party described Paris during her campaign as "brutal for its inhabitants, a city whose condition has deteriorated".

Hidalgo has said sanitation will require a yearly one-billion euro ($1.12 billion) city budget.

Another challenge is the sky-high property costs driving some 12,000 people out of Europe's densest city each year.

Hidalgo has promised major investment in housing, transport and green spaces, seeking to reverse the middle- and working-class exodus to the suburbs.

- 'Take the challenge' -

Hidalgo was born in San Fernando, a town in Andalusia, Spain, to an electrician father and a mother who worked as a seamstress.

Two years later the family moved to Lyon in southeast France -- Ana became Anne and French citizenship came when she was 14.

"One day in second grade, my teacher told me: 'little Spanish girls don't make it to the top of the class.' That only made me want to take up the challenge," Hidalgo told the Parisien newspaper in March.

After graduating from university, Hidalgo had a career as a labour inspector before becoming an advisor to former Labour minister Martine Aubry, the architect of France's 35-hour working week.

Hidalgo became the deputy mayor of Paris in 2001, a post she held for 13 years until claiming the top job in one of the world's most visited cities -- winning with a convincing 55 percent of second round votes.

Having had to endure taunts from her political opponents about her modest origins and lack of Parisian roots, Hidalgo has been known to quote the words of writer Sacha Guitry: "Being a Parisian is not about being born in Paris, it is about being reborn there."

- Olympics on horizon -

When she finally emerged from the shadow of her fellow Socialist predecessor Bertrand Delanoe in 2014, her tenure as Paris mayor began with a baptism of fire.

In January 2015 jihadist gunmen shot dead cartoonists and journalists at the Paris offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Just 10 months later, 130 people were killed in Paris when gunmen and suicide bombers from the Islamic State jihadist group attacked bars, restaurants, a concert hall and the Stade de France national stadium.

Then last year another blow when fire partially destroyed the Notre-Dame cathedral, a beloved monument intrinsic to the very fabric of Paris.

But there have been victories too: in 2017 Paris was crowned the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics, which Hidalgo should now preside over.

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France's Greens make gains, Macron loses ground in low-turnout local elections


AFP 28/06/2020 -

French ecologist party Europe Ecologie – Les Verts (EELV) candidate for Bordeaux mayor, Pierre Hurmic (C), celebrates on June 28, 2020 in Bordeaux, following his victory after the second round of the French municipal elections. © Nicolas Tucat, AFP
Text by:NEWS WIRES

France's Greens appeared set for major gains Sunday in local elections marked by record-low turnout and the failure of President Emmanuel Macron's ruling party to make any significant impact

\rojections based on early vote counts showed Europe Ecology, The Greens party (EELV), poised to take the key cities of Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg and in a very close contest for Lille.

Macron expressed his concern over the high abstention rate, estimated at about 60 percent, and acknowledged that the elections were marked by a "green wave", the presidency said.

Government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye spoke of "disappointment" over the poor showing of the centrist Republic on the Move (LREM) party Macron created shortly before his successful 2017 presidential run.

This is the first time it had competed in nationwide local elections.

"There are places... where our own internal divisions brought us to results that were extremely disappointing," Ndiaye told French television.

The party's candidate in Paris, Agnes Buzyn, was projected to come a distant third with incumbent Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo on course to easily win a second term as mayor of the French capital.

Marine Le Pen's National Rally, meanwhile, claimed victory in the southern city of Perpignan, in what would be the first far-right takeover of a French city of more than 100,000 inhabitants since 1995.

The biggest coup for the Greens would be ousting former minister Martine Aubry as mayor of the northern city of Lille. But her entourage insisted to AFP that she had clung on in a knife-edge vote.

'Not very good news'

Some 16.5 million eligible voters cast ballots in nearly 5,000 cities and towns where the first round of municipal voting, on March 15, had failed to yield a decisive outcome.

This represents about 15 percent of the country's municipal councils where power remained up for grabs.

But estimates showed that only two in five voters turned up, an abstention rate that Le Pen described as "astonishing" and far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said amounted to "a civic strike".

Macron said the low turnout was "not very good news," according to the Elysee.

The first election round, which took place as the COVID-19 pandemic was gaining deadly momentum, already yielded a record-low 55-percent abstention rate.

The second phase, originally scheduled for March 22, was postponed after France went into lockdown. Most restrictions have now been eased.

With a national death toll approaching 30,000, France has been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with some voters angry over the government's failure to provide protective material like masks rapidly.

The new polling date was set after the government's scientific council said it was possible to hold another round safely, but voters were required to wear face masks and urged to bring their own pens to lower the contamination risk.

Many voters and election officials sported germ-blocking plastic visors, and plexiglass screens were erected between them at several polling stations, which also provided sanitising hand gel.

Reshuffle?

Macron is widely rumoured to be preparing for a cabinet reshuffle after Sunday's results, and the future of Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who won his race for mayor in the Normandy port city of Le Havre, appeared unsure.

Though French law allows for the holding of two executive posts, observers expect Macron to use the occasion to axe the premier, whose popularity exceeds his own according to opinion polls.

Firing Philippe would allow Macron "to claim he is delivering on his promise to ensure the 'second act' of his presidency takes note of failings revealed by his handling of the COVID-19 crisis," said Mujtaba Rahman of the Eurasia Group risk consultancy.

With just 22 months to the next presidential election, Macron's main challenger nationwide is Le Pen.   THE FASCIST

Analysts say disillusion with the LREM and Macron, who critics say is a president of the rich out of touch with ordinary people, may have dissuaded people from going out to vote in already complicated circumstances.

(AFP)