From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Leaked report: EU may sanction Israel over settlements
(JTA) — Sanctions may be imposed on Israel for its increased settlement in the eastern part of Jerusalem, a leaked European Union report warns.
The report, as described by the Guardian on Friday, blames Israeli settlement in eastern Jerusalem for a “vicious cycle of violence … increasingly threatening the viability of the two-state solution.” It said Jerusalem is more divided than at any time since 1967, when Israel assumed control of the city in the aftermath of the Six-Day War.
Among the EU report’s recommendations are restrictions on “known violent settlers and those calling for acts of violence as regards immigration regulations in EU member states.” The report also discourages European businesses from working with new Israeli settlements.
The report comes just days after the reelection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who in the lead-up to the vote said in an interview that as prime minister he would not allow the formation of a Palestinian state. He was criticized as well for urging his supporters to vote by saying that “droves” of Arab-Israelis were voting.
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From PressTV
Israel launches military drills near Gaza Strip
The Israeli regime has launched military drills near the besieged Gaza Strip months after Tel Aviv unleashed a devastating war against the coastal enclave.
According to a statement by the Israeli military, the one-day maneuvers, which involve land and air forces, will continue until Sunday night.
The drills are “part of a range of activities that take place throughout the year to improve operational readiness in Gaza,” the statement said.
Israel attacked the Palestinian territory in early July 2014 and later expanded its military campaign with a ground invasion of Gaza. The war ended in late August that year. Nearly 2,200 Palestinians lost their lives and some 11,000 were injured in the attacks. Gaza Health officials say the victims included 578 children and nearly 260 women.
According to Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem, an investigation of only 70 Israeli strikes on Gaza last summer showed that more than 70 percent of the 606 Palestinians killed in those strikes were minors, women or elderly.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel chides ‘absurd’ censure by U.N. women’s panel
(JTA) — Israel slammed a U.N. commission’s resolution blaming “the Israeli occupation” for the lack of advancement of Palestinian women in their society.
The resolution passed Friday by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women is “politically motivated, factually disconnected and morally flawed,” Israeli diplomat Nelly Shiloh said in a speech to the committee prior to the vote.
The vote on the last day of the commission’s two-week meeting was one of four draft resolutions acted on and the only one to single out a country.
Titled the “Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women,” the resolution sponsored by the Palestinian Authority and South Africa passed by a vote of 27-2 with 13 abstentions. Israel and the United States voted against the measure; the abstentions were countries from the European Union.
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From Russia Today
Palestinians accuse Israel of ‘unfair distribution’ on World Water Day
The Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) called for sustainable infrastructure development in the wake of Israeli occupation to ensure not only water availability but also its quality.
“Palestine suffers from the unfair distribution of water sources, which remain under almost full Israeli control. As an evidence to this inequality, the Israeli daily share per capita of water consumption reached seven times higher than the Palestinian’s,” PWA and PCBS said in a joint press statement.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Former Justin Bieber neighbor suing after bodyguard called him ‘little Jew boy’
(JTA) — The former neighbor of Justin Bieber is suing the American pop star on grounds of emotional distress claiming that the singer’s bodyguard called him a “little Jew boy.”
The insult was used against Calabasas, Calif. neighbor Jeff Schwartz in May 2013, months before Bieber egged Schwartz’s house. Bieber pleaded no contest to a vandalism charge in that incident, was placed on probation, and paid $80,000 to make repairs.
Schwartz claims in his lawsuit filed late last week, according to entertainment website TMZ, that Schwartz warned Bieber over Memorial Day weekend in 2013 to stop speeding around the neighborhood in his sports car because it put lives at risk. The lawsuit claims that Bieber’s bodyguards then came out, with one of them calling Schwartz a “little Jew boy,” and then repeating; “What are you going to do about it, Jew boy?”
Schwartz is suing for damages for emotional distress, according to TMZ.
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From Russia Today
‘Tanks? No thanks!’: Czechs unhappy about US military convoy crossing country
The American military vehicles, which took part in NATO drills in Poland, Lithuania and Estonia, plan to cross the territory of the Czech Republic between March 29 and April 1 on their way to a base in the German city of Vilseck.
The exercise, entitled the ‘Dragoon Ride,’ will involve over a hundred Stryker vehicles, which the US is expected to station in Europe, and will see the convoy stop in a new city every night. Last week, it was authorized by the Czech government, without any debate in the parliament, Pressenza news agencyreported.
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From Russia Today
Sarkozy on top as France swings right in departmental elections
Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front (FN) has achieved a historic high watermark in local elections, but has failed to outrun Nicolas Sarkozy’s center-right UMP, according to a partial count.
According to official partial results the UMP and its allies together secured around 30 percent of votes. The anti-EU FN received around 26, about 0.5 percentage points above its European elections showing last year.
“The National Front has done 10 points better than it did in the 2011 local elections but its progress has stalled. It seems to have reached a ceiling,” said Bernard Sananes, head of the polling organization CSA on BFMTV.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
McCain: U.S. Should Rethink U.N. Funding If Palestinian Resolution Approved
Says Obama Shouldn’t Even Consider Such a Resolution
By Reuters
McCain, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” show, said President Barack Obama should not even be considering such a resolution.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments last week just before his re-election opposing a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians widened a rift between him and the Obama administration.
