June 14, 2012

Yasser Arafat’s former financial adviser, Muhammad Rashid, stepped up his attacks on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over the past few days.

A PA court recently sentenced Rashid in absentia to 15 years in prison and a $15 million fine on charges of embezzlement of public funds and money-laundering.

The PA decided to prosecute Rashid after a series of interviews he gave to the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV station in which he talked about his experiences as one of Arafat’s most trusted aides.

Gaza water too contaminated to drink, say charities

The charities Save the Children and Medical Aid for Palestinians say the number of children being treated for diarrhoea has doubled in five years.

They say Israel's five-year blockade of the territory is preventing crucial sanitation equipment from getting in.

The blockade must be lifted "in its entirety", they say.

The report, Gaza's Children: Falling Behind, says that high levels of nitrates and other contaminants have been found in the main water supply.

IOC warns against boycotting Israeli athletes in London

The International Olympic Committee warned that a refusal by any participant in next month's Games to compete against an athlete from a particular country is against the IOC's code of ethics.

The warning came Thursday in response to an Algerian kayaker who withdrew last month from a World Cup event after learning that he would be competing against an Israeli.

Hamas 'left behind' by Arab Spring

When Hamas won control of the Gaza Strip after a brief but vicious round of factional fighting in 2007, it earned a degree of influence unprecedented in its short history.

Its clashes with its archrival Fatah that culminated in military victory five years ago today emboldened Islamists, rattled Israel and the West and divided Palestinians between rival leaders in Gaza and the West Bank.

Gaza Five Years On: Hamas Settles In

As political upheavals spread over much of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, regimes throughout the region were shaken and a few fell. But in both the West Bank and Gaza, a soft authoritarianism that has provoked uprisings elsewhere has only been further entrenching itself.

Occupation double-speak

We are now marking the 45th anniversary of the largest national project in our young country's history: the suppression of millions of peoples' longing for independence and freedom.

This project is bigger than the National Water Carrier, more expensive than the Lavi fighter jet, which never did take off, and more foolish than the idea of draining Lake Hula, which wound up exacting a tremendous ecological cost. We are all invested in it up to our necks -- financially, politically and, most important, morally.

The affable face of evil

Israeli evil wears many faces these days. There are the rude, the crude and the thuggish, who still manage to generate some heat: When MK Miri Regev goes off on one of her jingoist, gutter-talk rampages - "the 'infiltrators' are a cancer" - some people are still shocked. The same goes for her partner in base incitement, MK Danny Danon, known for spouting his own swinish pearls of wisdom, or Interior Minister Eli Yishai, no piker when it comes to bandying about inflammatory language about crime or about spreading disease.

Why the world shouldn't support UNRWA

Five million Palestinians define themselves as refugees. They insist on festering away in camps, at the international community's expense, while holding fast to their main dream: returning to the towns and villages from which their ancestors fled or were expelled. Their ambition to realize this dream - which is a major stumbling block to ever ending the conflict - is made possible by the unending aid they have received for more than 60 years now from the UN Relief and Works Agency.

Make a choice: Settlements or democracy

The events surrounding last week’s Knesset vote on the illegal Ulpana outpost seemed like a vindication of Israeli democracy for many of its citizens. The Supreme Court ruling to evacuate 30 families living on Palestinian land was upheld, as was the notion that Israel’s democracy and the rule of law can exist side by side with its expanding presence in the West Bank.

This is fiction.

Israel Must Move Toward a Two-State Solution

The events surrounding last week's Knesset vote on the illegal Ulpana outpost seemed like a vindication of Israeli democracy for many of its citizens. The Supreme Court ruling to evacuate 30 families living on Palestinian land was upheld, as was the notion that Israel's democracy and the rule of law can exist side by side with its expanding presence in the West Bank. This is a fiction.

Inside out: Equality in the Arab sector

The Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab, Druse and Circassian Sectors in the Prime Minister’s Office launched a large-scale ad campaign on Sunday geared to encourage companies to hire Arab university graduates.

The campaign, which urges prospective employers not to discriminate against non-Jewish applicants for jobs, was designed in response to data showing generally lower levels of employment among Arab university graduates relative to their Jewish counterparts, and a number of glaring disparities in certain fields, such as high-tech jobs.

Israel's 'Real' Challenges Much Closer Than Iran

While all eyes seem to be fixed on Iran, the IDF’s main focus is on threats emerging a car-drive away from Tel Aviv.

In a special conversation, the operations officers of the IDF’s four commands tell Maariv about their military activities that involve daily attempts to kidnap soldiers, the escalation of “price-tag” activities (a violent retribution campaign by fundamentalist Israeli youths against Palestinians), the heating up of the Egyptian border and the fragile peace in the north.

Can the EU save the two-state solution?

"It has become clear that the window of opportunity for solving the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians is closing. The reasons behind this are several and have to do with both internal and external dynamics.

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