Israeli Cop Who Shot Dead Autistic Palestinian Faces Trial

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LIVE TOMORROW

LIVE TOMORROW - Gaza: Open-Air Prison? (Eventbrite)

We're live tomorrow on Zoom at 11am EST // 4pm UK // 6pm Palestine discussing all things Gaza with a panel of experts and voices from the ground. Reserve your space for free with Eventbrite.

In 2015 the United Nations, now famously, predicted that Gaza could be ‘uninhabitable’ by 2020 if current trends continued. And yet, here we are in the final quarter of 2020, with Gaza home to two million people and reports that conditions are still getting worse not better.

Having endured 13 years of Israel’s siege, three military operations against it in 2008, 2012 and 2014 as well as the violent crack down against the weekly Great March of Return protests in 2018 where over 200 Palestinians were killed and over 8000 injured with live ammunition, just what is it really like to live in Gaza today?

TOP STORIES TODAY

Israeli Cop Who Shot Dead Autistic Palestinian Faces Trial: 'He Posed No Danger' (Haaretz)

Josh Breiner reports "A border policeman who killed an autistic Palestinian in May could stand trial for reckless homicide pending a hearing, the Justice Ministry announced Wednesday."

"Eyad al-Hallaq, a 32-year-old resident of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz, was shot dead on his way to the special needs school that he attended and worked at. A case against the border policeman's commanding officer was closed out of lack of guilt."

"A statement from the Justice Ministry unit that investigated the affair said that "The deceased posed no danger to police and civilians in the area," and that the officer who shot him did so against orders."

How Do Democrats and Republicans Differ On Palestine and Israel? (Washington Report on Middle East Affairs)

Dr. Ramzy Baroud writes: "Regardless of the nature of the discourse through which Republican and Democrat leaders express their love and support for Israel, the two parties are decidedly “pro-Israel.” There are many recent examples that corroborate this assertion."

"Democrats, however, continue to perceive illegal Jewish settlements as, indeed, illegal. “This decision harms the cause of diplomacy, takes us further away from the hope of a two-state solution, and will only further inflame tensions in the region,” Joe Biden’s campaign said in a statement, in response to Pompeo’s declaration."

"Although markedly different, it is hard to imagine a Democrat administration upholding the above position, while simultaneously refraining from reversing previous decisions made by the Trump administration. It can only be one or the other."

Palestinian leadership must hold elections — and not run in them (Forward)

Mohammed Shehada writes: "Palestinian general elections would be akin to a national referendum on who’s most deserving of leading the struggle and in which direction. This would vigorously reenergize the Palestinian public by giving them a say in their own fate. Palestinians will become responsive to a leadership they chose fairly and freely."

"Elections would give young Palestinians an opportunity to mobilize and organize their own platforms separate from the traditional Fatah-Hamas spectrum. Palestinian youth movements that have otherwise challenged the throne of status quo leaders are too easily crushed: when Gazan youth organized the “We Want to Live” demonstrations to protest economic deterioration in 2019, for example, Hamas violently disrupted the movement."

CORONAVIRUS SITUATION UPDATES (Medical Aid for Palestinians)

"Currently there are 58,539 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and 478 deaths. In the West Bank 53,894 cases have been confirmed, including 11,404 in East Jerusalem. There have been 451 deaths in the West Bank."

"The southern governorate of Hebron has been hardest hit, with at least 17,839 confirmed cases of COVID-19 according to the World Health Organization. In the West Bank, lockdowns of badly-affected areas have been imposed, as has a ban has on public gatherings including weddings and graduation parties."

"In Gaza 4,645 cases have been reported and sadly 27 deaths. The Ministry of Health in Gaza has imposed strict lockdown measures, and is working hard to isolate positive cases and trace/test their contacts and relevant health workers."

"There are currently 301,024 confirmed cases in Israel and 2,138 deaths. All travellers entering Israel, including Israeli nationals, must undergo 14 days of home quarantine. MAP has therefore suspended visiting medical missions to the West Bank and Gaza for this period."

GO DEEPER

Video: Britain-Palestine APPG briefing on Palestine and the US elections (Council for Arab-British Understanding)

"The Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group held an online briefing on the US Presidential Elections, Biden and the Democrats, in relation to Palestine with Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and Zaha Hassan, human rights lawyer and visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace."

"This was a great opportunity for British parliamentarians to hear about the view from Washington on what could be expected from a Biden Administration (and the new Congress) on Palestine, in the run up to the US elections."

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