UN Officials call for an immediate demolitions freeze in the West Bank
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- Written by UN OCHAOPT UN OCHAOPT
- Published: 18 August 2015 18 August 2015
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PRESS RELEASE
UN Officials call for an immediate demolitions freeze in the West Bank
Jerusalem, 18 August 2015
Today, the Coordinator for Humanitarian and UN Development Activities for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Robert Piper, and the Director of UNRWA Operations West Bank, Felipe Sanchez, expressed grave concern about demolitions that were carried out yesterday by the Israeli Civil Administration in vulnerable Palestinian Bedouin refugee communities in Area C, near East Jerusalem. The officials both called for an immediate freeze on demolitions in the West Bank.
A total of 22 structures were demolished in four communities (Khan al Ahmar Abu Falah, Wadi Sneysel, Bir Miskoob and Az Zayyem Bedouin), displacing 78 Palestinians, including 49 children, the vast majority of whom are Palestine refugees. All four communities are located in and around the area of the planned E-1 settlement. According to UN records, this is the largest number of Palestinians displaced in the West Bank in one day in nearly three years. Concerns are also rising over reports of new displacements today in the Jordan Valley community of Fasayil al Wusta.
“Yesterday’s demolitions targeted some of the most vulnerable communities in the West Bank,” Mr. Piper said. “The scale of displacement is particularly concerning - nearly 50 children lost their homes yesterday.”
“Many of these refugee families have now been displaced four times in the last four years” said Mr. Sanchez.
Read more: UN Officials call for an immediate demolitions freeze in the West Bank
It's Time to Admit It. Israeli Policy Is What It Is: Apartheid
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- Written by Bradley Burston Bradley Burston
- Published: 18 August 2015 18 August 2015
- Hits: 5621 5621
I used to be one of those people who took issue with the label of apartheid as applied to Israel. Not anymore.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/a-special-place-in-hell/.premium-1.671538
What I'm about to write will not come easily for me.
I used to be one of those people who took issue with the label of apartheid as applied to Israel. I was one of those people who could be counted on to argue that, while the country's settlement and occupation policies were anti-democratic and brutal and slow-dose suicidal, the word apartheid did not apply.
I'm not one of those people any more. Not after the last few weeks.
Read more: It's Time to Admit It. Israeli Policy Is What It Is: Apartheid
The Movement for Justice for Palestinians is rooted in Human Rights, Justice and Equality
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- Written by AUPHR and JVP-PDX AUPHR and JVP-PDX
- Published: 14 August 2015 14 August 2015
- Hits: 6637 6637
The Movement for Justice for Palestinians is rooted in Human Rights, Justice and Equality
A Statement by Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights (AUPHR) and Jewish Voice for Peace -Portland (JVP-PDX)
Hillary Clinton condemns anti-Israel boycotts as 'counter-productive'
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- Written by Ben Jacobs Ben Jacobs
- Published: 07 July 2015 07 July 2015
- Hits: 5903 5903
Presidential frontrunner seeks to bolster her pro-Israel credentials with a promise to lobby groups to fight back against attempts to isolate the Jewish state
Hillary Clinton has condemned the BDS movement in a letter to longtime supporter and Hollywood mogul Haim Saban and dozens of other Jewish leaders.
Clinton, the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic party presidential nomination, wrote to Saban to ask for his advice on “how leaders and communities across America can work together to counter BDS”. She expressed the opinion that BDS “seeks to punish Israel and dictate how Israelis and Palestinians should resolve the core issues of their conflict”.
The Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement, spearheaded by Palestinian advocacy groups who claim Israel is similar to apartheid South Africa, seeks to boycott companies which do business in the State of Israel and encourages organizations and institutions to divest from the country until Israel ends what they call “its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands”.
In the letter dated 2 July, Clinton said “the BDS campaign is counterproductive to the pursuit of peace and harmful to Israelis and Palestinians alike” and pledged to mount a bipartisan effort “to fight back against further attempts to isolate and delegitimize Israel”.
Read more: Hillary Clinton condemns anti-Israel boycotts as 'counter-productive'
Foreign investment in Israel drops by 50%
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- Written by Jack Moore, Newsweek Jack Moore, Newsweek
- Published: 26 June 2015 26 June 2015
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Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Israel dropped by almost 50% last year in comparison to the year before as the country continues to feel the effects of last summer's Gaza conflict, a new UN report has revealed.
The report, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), shows that only €5.7bn was invested into the country in 2014 in comparison with €10.5bn in 2013, a decrease of €4.8bn, or 46%. Israel's FDI in other countries also decreased by 15%, from €4.2bn in 2013 to €3.5bn last year.
Dr Ronny Manos, one of the report's authors and a researcher in the department of Management and Economics at the Open University of Israel, said that the decline was primarily caused by the fallout from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Operation Protective Edge and international boycotts against the country for alleged violations of international law.
"We believe that what led to the drop in investment in Israel are Operation Protective Edge and the boycotts Israel is facing," she told Israeli news outlet Ynet News.