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Secretary of State Hilary Clinton presented on Thursday the State Department's 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices that criticizes Israel for its treatment of African migrants, an issue vigorously debated in Israeli public discourse lately.
The report states that Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers, which are about 85 percent of African migrants in Israel "were not allowed access to asylum procedures but were given renewable 'conditional release' documents that deferred deportation and had to be renewed every few months."
Netanyahu condemns violence against African migrants, promises to solve problem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised on Thursday that his government would address the issue of African migrants in Israel, one day after a protest against them by residents of south Tel Aviv turned violent [13].
"The infiltrator problem must be solved, and we will solve it," Netanyahu said on Thursday afternoon, speaking at an event in Tel Aviv.
Amnesty International: Israel frequently uses excessive force against Palestinians
The Amnesty International 2012 annual report was released on Wednesday, detailing the violation of human rights worldwide.
The report is highly critical of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, charging that the Israel Defense Forces frequently uses excessive, sometimes lethal, force against demonstrators in the West Bank and civilians in Gaza. The IDF this year has killed 55 civilians in the West Bank and Gaza, including 11 children, the report said.
Peace Now: Investigate MKs for incitement to violence
"I do not condone violence and never have," said MK Miri Regev (Likud [16]) on Thursday morning after calling infiltrators "a cancer in our society" during a violent protest [17] in south Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
Building an Ark in Gaza
As Amnesty International blasted Israel in its annual report for maintaining its naval blockade on Gaza, a group of Canadians have announced they plan to build a “Gaza Ark” with the Palestinians aimed at breaking out of the coastal strip.
Senate distinguishes between Palestinian refugees and descendants
WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved language that would distinguish between Palestinian refugees alive in 1948 and their descendants.
State Dep’t Opposes Senate Bid to Determine How Many Palestinians Are Genuine Refugees
(CNSNews.com) – After intervention by the State Department, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday reworked an amendment to a foreign operations appropriations bill, watering down language that sought to establish the actual number of Palestinians that could legitimately be called refugees.
Stop Settler Violence
Everything you need to know about Israel's occupation is summed up in a recently released video showing settlers opening fire on unarmed Palestinians [22] in the full view of Israeli troops who appear to make no effort to stop them. Two of the Palestinians were badly injured.
Prepare for nuclear Iran
Benjamin Netanyahu was roughly five-years-old when he played in the sandbox at kindergarten, and Ehud Barak [24] was roughly 12-years-old and run in the orchards when David Ben Gurion [25], Professor Ernst David Bergmann, Shimon Peres [26] and Emman
Deportation Now!
What would you think if I told you of a country that, in the middle of its financial and cultural center, allowed the existence of an autonomous district in which the laws of the state do not apply? What would you say if I informed you that more than 25,000 residents of this urban area – the same population size as an average city in this country – are illegal residents of the State of Israel?
It’s time for Barak to go
Despite his frequent flights to Washington, D.C., Defense Minister Ehud Barak seems to be out of step politically with his American hosts.
One day after he declared that Syrian President Bashar Assad (personally) will have to step down because of the ongoing revolt against his regime, but that his regime can remain in power, the US State Department said the incumbent Syrian regime would have to go too.
Sporting pathways to coexistence
There is much talk in Israel these days, and it is quite justified, about violence and racism in sports. Yet I believe that while these ugly phenomena must be eradicated, sport is globally, and also here, an important pathway to coexistence, integration and social cohesion.
In ancient Greece, it was decided that during the Olympic sporting events, there would be a total truce. Sport became then the symbol of peaceful coexistence and for a different type of human relations: competition according to agreed-upon rules and values.
How Obama Missed an Opportunity for Middle East Peace
"We were fond together, because of the sweep of the open places, the taste of wide winds, the sunlight, and the hopes in which we worked. The moral freshness of the world-to-be intoxicated us. We were wrought up in ideas inexpressible and vaporous, but to be fought for. We lived many lives in those whirling campaigns, never sparing ourselves: Yet when we achieved and the new world dawned, the old men came out again and took our victory to re-make in the likeness of the former world they knew." – T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Sleepless in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM – Egypt's first round of presidential voting wrapped up on Thursday with the crop of viable candidates down to just a handful. Official results won't be ready until Tuesday, but next door in Israel, policymakers are already scrambling to sort the bad options from the worse.
Outsiders won’t decide Mideast realities
“Revolutions revolve 360 degrees,” wrote the late Middle East economic historian Charles Issawi. What we didn’t know yesterday about Middle East revolutions – and we didn’t know a great deal – becomes less relevant as the days fly by, for these revolutions, like all others that preceded them, are works in progress, changing constantly.
Palestinian Attitudes Toward Israel
As the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East enter into their second year, how have these unprecedented events impacted Palestinian attitudes toward Israel? Will Palestinians be emboldened to mimic these revolts and collectively decide to embark on another intifada? Will they continue to pursue unilateral efforts to declare statehood in the United Nations? Or will they use a diplomatic approach and reach a negotiated settlement with Israel?
Legislating the Refugee Problem
You have to laugh, or it would make you cry. That is, if you are someone who genuinely cares about Israel and believes that the two-state solution is the only thing that can save Israel as a democracy and a Jewish state, and that can end the occupation and permit the Palestinians to live, finally, as a free people with dignity and self-determination.
Front Page FeaturesLinks:
[1] http://www.americantaskforce.org/print/25744
[2] http://www.americantaskforce.org/printmail/25744
[3] http://www.americantaskforce.org/printpdf/25744
[4] http://www.americantaskforce.org/rss/wpr
[5] https://www.americantaskforce.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=1
[6] http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/israel-steps-up-security-ties-with-china-2373966.html
[7] http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/israeli-court-reconsider-gaza-student-travel-ban-2373504.html
[8] http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/us-to-reaffirm-commitment-to-israels-security/
[9] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=488947
[10] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=489005
[11] http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-report-criticizes-israel-s-treatment-of-african-migrants-1.432518
[12] http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahu-condemns-violence-against-african-migrants-promises-to-solve-problem-1.432482
[13] http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/a-personal-account-how-a-tel-aviv-anti-migrant-protest-spiraled-out-of-control.premium-1.432456
[14] http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/amnesty-international-israel-frequently-uses-excessive-force-against-palestinians-1.432273
[15] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4233774,00.html
[16] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3498238,00.html
[17] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4233509,00.html
[18] http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=35219
[19] http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/05/24/3096476/senate-distinguishes-between-palestinian-refugees-and-descendants
[20] http://cnsnews.com/news/article/state-dep-t-opposes-senate-bid-determine-how-many-palestinians-are-genuine-refugees
[21] http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/24/stop-settler-violence.html
[22] http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20120520_asira_al_qibliya
[23] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4233804,00.html
[24] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3418778,00.html
[25] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3610688,00.html
[26] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3479700,00.html
[27] http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=271374
[28] http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=271379
[29] http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=271369
[30] http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/05/18/how_obama_missed_an_opportunity_for_middle_east_peace
[31] http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/05/24/the_view_from_jerusalem
[32] http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2012/May-25/174610-outsiders-wont-decide-mideast-realities.ashx#axzz1vqHNUR00
[33] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-sharnoff/palestinian-attitudes-toward-israel_b_1539840.html?view=print&comm_ref=false
[34] http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/24/legislating-the-refugee-problem.html