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Purpose: to provide a varied selection of articles from Arabic, Hebrew and English mainstream media outlets so readers get a flavour of what is being read by the general public about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from different perspectives. The aim is to shine a spotlight for readers on the polarised narratives and constant one-sided messaging that appears in the media of each society, and often also in the international media. Solutions Not Sides makes no attempt to reconcile or support any of these narratives, but we believe it is important to understand each side’s perspective and the way that their society presents events if a negotiated solution is to be reached.
We do not currently have the capacity to provide translations of actual Hebrew and Arabic media, so bear in mind that news agencies that issue articles in those languages may not produce the same content as the English versions of their outlets provided here (e.g. Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English do not simply produce the same content in both languages). The content and opinions of these articles do not reflect our aims or opinions. Our main educational point about media sources on this issue is that they are almost always biased and should never be trusted in isolation. Please BE RESOURCEFUL and research for yourself a diversity of sources for everything you read or hear about Israel-Palestine.
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Story of the week: US Economic Conference for Palestine in Bahrain
Reuters: Palestinian business leaders to boycott U.S. economic conference
Palestinian business leaders on Tuesday rebuffed U.S. plans for an economic conference in Bahrain that has become the spearhead of President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan. As Washington appealed to Palestinian and Arab leaders to come to the June 25-26 gathering, Palestinian businessmen joined politicians in saying their political demands would have to be addressed in any plan to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict... Arafat Asfour, chairman of business association Paltrade with more than 300 members across the West Bank and Gaza, said it was unresolved political issues - such as Israeli restrictions on movement of goods and people in the occupied territories - that had long deterred foreign investment. Israel says such measures stem from security concerns. “How (can you) expect people to invest in Palestine if they don’t have access? If they don’t have the control, if they don’t have the legal framework, the business environment, to protect their business?” asked Asfour, saying his organization had refused to go to Bahrain.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-kushner-outreach/palestinian-business-leaders-to-boycott-u-s-economic-conference-idUSKCN1SR218
Israel Hayom: Greenblatt: The PA is acting in a shameful manner
United States Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason D. Greenblatt urged on Monday the Palestinians to stop their boycott of the administration and help make the upcoming peace conference in Bahrain next month a success. The “Peace to Prosperity” workshop will focus on economic programs to complement the political component of the peace plan, which will be unveiled at a later stage. “It’s difficult to understand why the Palestinian Authority would reject a workshop designed to discuss a vision with the potential to radically transform lives and put people on a path toward a brighter future,” Greenblatt told Israel Hayom.
Read more: https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/05/21/greenblatt-the-pa-is-acting-in-a-shameful-manner/
The New York Times: Trump Doesn’t Want Peace. He Wants Palestinian Surrender | Saeb Erekat
The members of Mr. Trump’s Middle East team claim that they want to boost the Palestinian economy and improve Palestinian lives, but economic growth can never be a substitute for the right to live in dignity, free from military occupation and oppression, in our homeland. The main obstacle to Palestinian economic growth is clear: the occupation. This has been repeatedly documented in reports by the United Nations and the World Bank. Yet Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy repeatedly blames the Palestinian government for the economic situation, even as Israel maintains control over our natural resources and borders, including the isolation of occupied East Jerusalem and the blockade on the Gaza Strip... Our position is an expression of our national dignity; it is based on international law and United Nations resolutions. Our recognition of Israel on the 1967 border, equivalent to 78 percent of historic Palestine, was a painful compromise. Our support for the two-state solution was reaffirmed by the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative... This was also the basis of the peace plan presented by President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority to the United Nations Security Council in February 2018.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/opinion/trump-israel-palestinian-peace-plan.html
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Hebrew News Sources:
The Times of Israel: Israel shrinks Gaza fishing zone after rash of arson balloons
The Israeli military on Wednesday night announced it was cutting back the fishing zone off the coast of the Gaza Strip after several fires were sparked in southern Israel throughout the day by balloon-borne arson devices from the coastal enclave. “A decision was made tonight to restrict the fishing zone off the Gaza Strip to 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) until further notice. The decision was made subsequent to the dispatch of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip toward Israel,” Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians said in a statement... The incendiary attacks would appear to violate the reported terms of the truce.
Read more: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-shrinks-gaza-fishing-zone-after-rash-of-arson-balloons/
Haaretz: Al Jazeera Pulls Video Claiming Holocaust Was 'Different From How the Jews Tell It'
Al-Jazeera's AJ+ Arabic channel pulled a video it posted to its social media channels Friday night that claimed Jews exploit the Holocaust and that Israel is the genocide's "greatest beneficiary." Two journalists who created the video were later suspended... Before its removal from the platforms on Saturday, the post reportedly gained 1.1 million views on Facebook and Twitter. After it was deleted, Al Jazeera said the piece violated the network's editorial standards... According to the video, pre-war Europe's Jews were able to emphasize their suffering because they were wealthy and controlled media companies. In addition, it claims, the "statistics were inflated by the Zionist movement to help them establish Israel."
Read more: https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/al-jazeera-pulls-video-claiming-holocaust-was-different-from-how-the-jews-tell-it-1.7255111
i24 News: UN envoy Mladenov says long-term solution to PA financial crisis 'urgently needed'
UN special envoy to the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, on Wednesday briefed the UN Security Council on the situation in Gaza, the West Bank and the tensions between Israel and Hamas. Mladenov stressed the need to find a long-term solution to the financial crisis that the Palestinian Authority finds itself in. Addressing the Security Council for the first time since the latest Gaza flare up earlier this month, Mladenov condemned all attacks on Palestinians and Israeli civilians, urging all sides to refrain from violence. Some 700 rockets were fired from Gaza by Hamas and Islamic Jihad at Israel earlier this month, killing four civilians. Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) in return bombed hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, killing at least 27 Palestinians according to Gaza's health ministry. Mladenov has worked with Egypt for months to ease the tensions between Israel and Hamas, and assured on Wednesday that he continues to do so.
Read more: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/1558538344-un-envoy-mladenov-says-long-term-solution-to-pa-financial-crisis-urgently-needed
Arab News Sources:
The National: UAE and Saudi Arabia to attend Bahrain conference on Palestine
The UAE and Saudi Arabia said they welcomed the coming Bahrain conference on economic development in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza led by the United States, and that both states would attend. The June 25 to 26 "Peace to Prosperity" economic workshop was announced at the weekend but Palestinian officials said they were neither briefed about the plan nor did they plan to attend, complicating the proposal... The UAE announced its support for the workshop and that it would send a delegation to participate, state news agency Wam said. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation said in a statement that the workshop "aims to lift the Palestinian people out of misery and to enable them for a stable and prosperous future". The statement also reiterated the UAE’s “support for the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital"... But there are concerns that the US proposal is unlikely to go anywhere as the Palestinian Authority is refusing to speak to or co-operate with the administration of President Donald Trump given his unilateral concessions to Israel.
Read more: https://www.thenational.ae/world/gcc/uae-and-saudi-arabia-to-attend-bahrain-conference-on-palestine-1.864747
Ma'an News: Cluster of incendiary balloons lands in southern Israel
A cluster of 30 incendiary balloons, launched from the besieged Gaza Strip, landed in an Israeli military base in southern Israel, on Saturday. According to Hebrew-language news outlets, a cluster of about 30 balloons with explosive objects attached to them, were found in an Israeli military base by Israeli forces and claimed that Palestinians launched them from Gaza. Sources added that Israeli forces immediately called the explosives unit team to transfer and handle it in a secure location. No injuries nor damages were reported. Palestinians in Gaza view the incendiary kites as a form of protest against Israel's 12-year blockade of Gaza and for Palestinian refugees right of return to their homes and lands which are now known as Israel.
Read more: https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=783473
Al-Monitor: Gaza soda bottler opens West Bank site to deal with siege
As many Gaza Strip-based businesses have struggled under the 12-year-long Israeli blockade, unable to make a sustainable profit, some are driven to search for new and alternative markets despite warnings of potential harm to the local economy. One of those companies, Pepsi Palestine, has spent four years establishing a soda bottling factory in the West Bank and is now able to serve that market directly. The company, affiliated with bottler Yazji Group, had shipped its products to the West Bank from its facilities in Greece and Jordan, paying steep transportation costs and tariffs... Companies that moved their branches outside Gaza mainly cited fear of ongoing wars and the blockade as their reasons. Businesses were never compensated for the losses their factories sustained during the Israeli wars on Gaza between 2008 and 2014.
Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/05/gaza-pepsi-move-west-bank-export-import-economy.html
International News Sources:
Al-Monitor: UN agency for Palestinians rejects US call to dismantle it
The head of the United Nations organisation for Palestinian refugees on Thursday rejected a US call to dismantle the agency, saying it cannot be blamed for stalled peace efforts. UNRWA's commissioner general Pierre Krahenbuhl rebuffed the criticism from US envoy Jason Greenblatt during a visit to the Gaza Strip. "I unreservedly reject the accompanying narrative that suggests that somehow UNRWA is to blame for the continuation of the refugee-hood of Palestine refugees, of their growing numbers and their growing needs," he said in response to a question about Greenblatt's comments... "The fact that UNRWA still exists today is an illustration of the failure of the parties and the international community to resolve the issue politically -- and one cannot deflect the attention onto a humanitarian organisation," he told a press conference in Gaza City... UNRWA provides education, health and other key services for the refugees with funding from international donors. The US and Israel say the agency perpetuates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in particular by classifying refugees' descendants as refugees too. UNRWA argues it is simply providing services until a political solution is found.
Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/contents/afp/2019/05/israel-palestinians-conflict-un-refugee-aid.html
Quartz: Madonna ensured Eurovision was once again very political
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest was a celebration of Europe’s musical talents. It was also very political, including during last night’s final in Tel Aviv, Israel, during which the Netherlands won the top spot... And yet politics make their way into Eurovision almost every year. In February, Ukraine’s Anna Korsun withdrew from the contest after the national broadcaster told her not to perform in Russia. When Ukraine hosted Eurovision in 2017, it barred the Russian contestant, Yulia Samoylova, from performing, and Russia boycotted the contest as a result. (Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014.) Last year’s Eurovision winner, Netta Barzilai, said her song “Toy” was inspired by the #MeToo movement. And past performers have used their songs to draw attention to LGBTQ rights... The final itself was also political. Iceland’s contestants, punk rock band Hatari, displayed Palestinian flags during the live broadcast of the results. And Madonna, whose guest performance during the final had been the subject of feverish rumors for days, put on an unexpectedly political show, too.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190519-meet-the-chefs-reinventing-palestinian-cuisine
Fox News: Feds: Man aided Hamas, threatened to kill Israel supporters
A 20-year-old New Jersey man sought to aid the Islamic militant group Hamas and threatened to "shoot everybody" at an unspecified pro-Israel demonstration, federal authorities said Wednesday. Jonathan Xie was charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, making false statements and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. The material support carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years... Xie sent $100 to a person he believed was affiliated with a faction of Hamas last December, and a few days later, posted on his Instagram account that he was "pretty sure it was illegal but I don't give a damn," according to a criminal complaint... According to the criminal complaint, a person wearing a black ski mask later identified as Xie said in an Instagram video that he was against "Zionism" and the "neo-liberal establishment" and, in response to a question, said he would join Hamas "if I could find a way." Later in the video, Xie allegedly displayed a handgun and said he was going to go to a pro-Israel march "and I'm going to shoot everybody."
Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/us/feds-man-aided-hamas-threatened-to-kill-israel-supporters
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Photo of the Week: Palestinian Kibbeh
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Opinion:
LA Times: No, Israel isn’t a country of privileged and powerful white Europeans | Hen Mazzing
I am Mizrahi, as are the majority of Jews in Israel today. We are of Middle Eastern and North African descent. Only about 30% of Israeli Jews are Ashkenazi, or the descendants of European Jews. I am baffled as to why mainstream media and politicians around the world ignore or misrepresent these facts and the Mizrahi story. Perhaps it’s because our history shatters a stereotype about the identity of my country and my people... Any erasure of the Mizrahi experience negates the lives of 850,000 Jewish refugees just like them, who, even in the successor states to the Ottoman Empire of the early 20th century, were treated as “dhimmis,” an Arabic term for a protected minority whose members pay for that protection, which can be withdrawn at any time. Demographic ignorance also works to deny the existence of almost 200,000 descendants of Ethiopian Jews who were threatened by political destabilization in the early 1990s and airlifted to Israel in a daring rescue operation.
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mazzig-mizrahi-jews-israel-20190520-story.html
The Jerusalem Post: Encountering Peace: The Mirage On The Horizon | Gerhon Baskin
I ask the same thing – why are we not all members of human rights organizations or peace organizations? Are there really people here who are opposed to civil rights or who are against peace? No, I am not leaving Israel, and not only because there is no magnet anywhere in the world pulling me away from here. I will continue to struggle against evil, against the occupation, against the discrimination and marginalization of the Palestinian citizens of Israel. I will continue to be active in joint Israeli-Palestinian organizations. I will continue to build partnerships of Israelis and Palestinians working together. I will continue to work to create a joint political party of Jewish and Palestinian citizens together who share the belief that we all have an equal stake in the development of our country. Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, but it is also the state of all of its citizens – it cannot be democratic, equal, and exemplary in any other way. This is a blessing and not a curse – learning to live together as equals in this land, in one state, two states or ten states is the challenge for our times and when we come out on the other side of this conflict, we will all be better people and we will live in a better place.
Read more: https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Encountering-Peace-The-mirage-on-the-horizon-590427
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Watch this: Israeli heavy metal band Orphaned Land: 'The boycott is a great excuse for antisemites to jump on board'
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