From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Illinois state House passes anti-BDS legislation
(JTA) — Illinois lawmakers unanimously passed a bill that bars state pension funds from including companies that participate in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel.
The bill passed the state’s House of Representatives on Monday by a vote of 102-0. The state Senate had passed the measure unanimously as well, 49-0.
With the expected signature of Gov. Bruce Rauner, Illinois would be the first state to legislate against BDS.
In a tweet Monday shortly after the bill passed the House, Rauner wrote, “Looking forward to signing #SB1761 making IL first in the nation to fight BDS against Israel.”
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From PressTV
Israeli settlers’ attacks on Palestinians go unpunished: Rights group
A human rights group has condemned the Israeli police’s “indifference” to settlers’ attacks on Palestinians, saying nearly all assaults end without any indictments.
The Israeli human rights group, Yesh Din, released the data in a report on Monday, saying 94 percent of such cases go unnoticed and that in the few cases that indictments were made, the convictions led to “very light” punishment.
The NGO also said that assaults against Palestinians are not “isolated incidents,” and that “this brand of violence is part of a sophisticated, wider strategy designed to assert territorial domination over West Bank Palestinians.”
According to the rights group, Israeli forces in the West Bank frequently participate or do not intervene while violence against Palestinians is being committed.
The report comes as Israeli forces as well as settlers regularly engage in violence against Palestinians in the occupied territories.
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From PressTV
Palestinian woman suffers miscarriage after assault by Israeli settlers
A pregnant Palestinian woman has suffered miscarriage after a group of Israeli settlers attacked and beat her up in the center of al-Khalil (Hebron), the southern occupied West Bank.
Palestinian medical sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the 37-year-old woman, identified as Mirvat Sa’ad Abu Romeila, sustained multiple cuts and bruises as Israelis from the Ramat Yishai settlement in al-Khalil, located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of al-Quds (Jerusalem), assaulted her. She was transported to the general hospital in the city, where doctors said the assault had resulted in the death of the fetus.
The development came on the same day as Israeli settlers destroyed and uprooted hundreds of olive saplings in the southern West Bank town of al-Shuyoukh.
Local activist Ahmad al-Halayqa said nearly 80 acres of land planted with olive saplings were vandalized by the Israeli residents of nearby settlements.
Israeli forces as well as settlers regularly engage in violence against Palestinians in the occupied territories.
From Ynet News
Israel: US let Iran plane deal go ahead despite sanctions
Jerusalem official says Israel alerted US to deal, which is ‘significant’ sanctions violation; claims aircraft sold to airline blacklisted by US because of ties to Hezbollah, Revolutionary Guards. A senior Israeli official took a swipe at Washington on Tuesday over Iran’s purchase of second-hand civilian aircraft, saying the acquisition violated US sanctions and went ahead despite a tip-off from Israel.
Iranian Transport Minister Abbas Akhoondi was quoted on May 11 by the Iranian Students News Agency as saying Tehran bought 15 used commercial planes in the last three months. He did not say who sold them or how they had been acquired.
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From The Times of Israel
Canadian-Jordanian businessman held for ‘Hamas ties’
Lawyer dismisses charges, says Shin Bet denied Ibrahim Siyyam’s rights to legal counsel
A wealthy Canadian-Jordanian businessman, who was invited to the West Bank for an investment conference, has been arrested by Israel and held without legal advice, his lawyer said Monday.
According to Avi Baram, Ibrahim Siyyam tried to cross from Jordan into the West Bank with a group of businessmen earlier this month, but was detained by Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency and questioned without access to a lawyer.
“They claim he has ties to Hamas, but it’s not true,” he told AFP.
“We deny all the charges.”
Siyyam, who is of Palestinian origin, left the West Bank decades ago, taking up citizenship in Canada and Jordan, the lawyer said.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Montana man shoots bartender over non-kosher drink
(JTA) — A man from Montana was charged with attempted homicide for shooting a bartender who served him a non-kosher drink.
Monte Leon Hanson, 59, allegedly shot Joe Lewis, who is also his neighbor, and killed Lewis’ dog the morning after the bartender made Hanson a red beer — beer and tomato juice — at his Hamilton bar using the Clamato tomato drink rather than tomato juice. One of the ingredients in Clamato is clam broth.
When Hanson learned the drink was made with Clamato he became angry, saying it was against his religion, according to the affidavit, The Missoulian reported.
Early the next morning, on May 9, Hanson reportedly followed Lewis when he left their apartment building to take out his dog. Another neighbor then heard four to six gunshots. He found Lewis holding his dog, dead from a gunshot wound to his head. Lewis also was injured from the gunshots.
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From The Times of Israel
Mossad chief: Israel must retrieve Eli Cohen’s body from Syria
Marking 50 years since legendary spy’s execution, widow appeals to government to ‘do all you can to bring him home’
Mossad Director Tamir Pardo on Monday said Israel has “an obligation” to bring the body of Mossad spy Eli Cohen to Israel from Syria for burial.
Israel on Monday marked the 50th anniversary of the Damascus hanging of Cohen, in a ceremony attended by the president, prime minister, Cohen’s widow and three children.
“Eli’s legacy, ‘Our Man in Damascus,’ will last forever. It remains our obligation to bring Eli home, to bury him in Israel,” Pardo said at the event, referencing the title of a book about the legendary spy.
Addressing the memorial, Nadia Cohen also appealed to the Israeli government to retrieve her husband’s body from Syrian soil and “bring him home.
