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Court in Israel sentences Palestinian politician Khalida Jarrar to two years in prison (Middle East Eye)
"An Israeli military court sentenced Palestinian politician Khalida Jarrar to two years in prison on Monday for "inciting violence" and belonging to a “banned organisation”."
"Jarrar, a prominent political activist and member of the Marxist-Leninist organisation the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was arrested at her home in Ramallah on 31 October 2019, and has since been in detention."
"The court at the Ofer military base northwest of Jerusalem also ordered her to pay a fine of $1,300. Jarrar, who is also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Palestine's suspended parliament, has been arrested numerous times and done several stints in Israeli administrative detention."
"In February 2019, she was released from Israel’s Damon prison, outside Haifa, after 20 months in administrative detention without charge."
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Lawyers demand Labour explain hiring of Israeli spy (Electronic Intifada)
Asa Winstanley writes: "A leading British human rights law firm has written to Labour demanding answers on the party’s hiring of a former Israeli spy. Jamie Potter from Bindmans announced on Tuesday that the firm was acting on behalf of Adnan Hmidan, a British Palestinian Labour member."
"I am very concerned that the Labour Party has recruited a former Israeli spy to a position that involves monitoring the social media accounts of its members,' Hmidan said in a statement from the law firm."
The move appears to be a precursor to legal action.
"Hmidan says he is worried about what Kaplan could be doing with Labour members’ data, especially British Palestinians and those opposed to the occupation of Palestine."
"Lawyer Jamie Potter said that given Kaplan’s background, 'it is deeply concerning that the Labour Party recruited him without providing any assurances whatsoever to its Palestinian and other members, and has still not done so despite senior figures within the party condemning the recruitment.'"
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UCL board’s IHRA decision is an opportunity, not a threat (Times of Israel)
Daniel Lubin writes: "Last week UCL’s academic board recommended that the university replace the IHRA working definition of antisemitism with an alternative. At a time when antisemitism is rising, we understand the fear that this places Jewish students at greater risk. But, as former and current UCL students, we believe that the IHRA does not protect Jewish students and has dangerous implications for Palestinian rights and freedom of speech on campus."
"As well as providing no additional protection to Jewish students, the definition risks silencing criticism of Israel. In 2017 Israel Apartheid Week events were cancelled at Lancashire and Manchester universities, with UK Lawyers for Israel stating that they would “conflict with the IHRA definition”. In 2019 the ‘Big Ride for Palestine’ charity event was not authorised by Tower Hamlets council as officials feared the event would breach the IHRA terms."
"These incidents demonstrate precisely the 'culture of fear and self-silencing' that the UCL board anticipates the IHRA introducing in universities."
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Meet Yuval Gal, the anti-Zionist Israeli running in the Dutch elections (Vashti)
Aaron Keller writes: "Gal left Israel aged thirty, appalled by the country’s trajectory. Now he’s continuing the fight against injustice from the Netherlands."
"'The best thing about living in The Hague,' says Yuval Gal in soft-toned but thickly-accented English, 'is that I’ll have a front-row seat when Benjamin Netanyahu is tried at the ICC [International Criminal Court].'"
"Gal explains that his political journey was informed by his experience growing up in Hod Hasharon, a satellite town of Tel Aviv. As a child he remembers walking with his Dad, asking him about the provenance of various buildings. 'He would just shrug and make up some story. Eventually, I came to understand that it must have been someone’s house, but that they were no longer there.'"
"His first flat in The Hague was in a working-class neighbourhood which, along with his middle-eastern accent, led some locals to suspect him of being a drug dealer. Things hardly improved when he moved to a more affluent area: Gal recalls being stopped by the police on his way to work at least twice. 'I asked them why they were stopping me; they said I looked dirty.'"
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On British colonialism, antisemitism, and Palestinian rights (Middle East Eye)
Avi Shlaim writes: "From the 'original sin' of 1917 to the government's more recent adoption of the controversial IHRA antisemitism definition, Britain has always been firmly in Israel's camp
In December 2016, then British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative government formally adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s working definition of antisemitism. It was the first government in the world to do so, marking yet another milestone in the 100-year history of British support for Zionism and callous disregard for Palestinian rights."
"The 'original sin' was the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which promised to support the establishment of a 'national home for the Jewish people', provided that nothing was done to 'prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine'. In 1917, Arabs constituted 90 percent of the population of Palestine; Jews made up less than 10 percent."
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Women in Hebron is a Palestinian nonprofit fair trade cooperative under the Idna Cooperative Association for Embroidery and Handicrafts. Idna is a mid-sized Palestinian city of around 25,000 people, located to the southwest of Hebron in the West Bank.
The one hundred and fifty women are employed to produce beautiful hand-embroidered items. The proceeds from sales provide themselves and their families with additional income that could not otherwise be obtained through part-time employment.
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