From PressTV
Israeli forces shoot Palestinian man north of the Gaza Strip
A Palestinian man has been shot and injured by Israeli forces in the Palestinian town of Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s latest violation of a truce deal with Palestinians came just hours after Israeli forces fired upon Palestinian homes and properties near the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday.
Israeli forces stationed near the Kissufim military base fired upon Palestinian homes just after midnight and again in the morning, witnesses said.
On Thursday, an Israeli tank fired into the eastern Gaza Strip. Tel Aviv claims that the indecent was in response to Palestinians opening fire on an Israeli military vehicle.
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From PressTV
Israel troops attack anti-occupation WB protests, injure 2
Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces have left two people injured in the occupied West Bank.
A Palestinian boy in the village of Nabi Salih near Ramallah was injured on Friday after Israeli troops attacked a demo against the regime’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
A similar rally was also launched by Palestinians in the West Bank town of Kafr Qaddum. Israeli soldiers opened fire at the rally and seriously wounded an Italian pro-Palestinian activist.
According to Palestinian Minister of Health Jawad Awwad, the Italian national, named Patrick Corsi, is in critical condition after being shot in the chest and stomach.
From PressTV
Pay Palestinians to leave: Israeli foreign minister
Amid a worldwide push to recognize Palestine as a state, Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman supports paying Palestinians to leave Israel.
The hardline politician made the assertions in a manifesto of his right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party, which was published on Friday.
Lieberman said he backed providing economic incentives for Palestinians to encourage them to emigrate.
The comments came amid Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s push to pass a so-called Jewish nation-state bill, which defines Israel as a Jewish state and grants national rights only to the Jewish people.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Jewish Groups Call for Civil Discussion On Race After Ferguson Decision
Bend the Arc, AJWS, ADL and Others Speak Out
Jewish groups called for civil and serious discussion about race, democracy and justice in the wake of the grand jury’s decision in fatal shooting of an unarmed African American teen in Ferguson, Mo.
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs in a statement issued on Wednesday affirmed its support for peaceful demonstration and called for “locally led serious, civil and hard conversations on race, opportunity, and representative democracy in America today.”
“When we face great injustices in our society, they must be confronted. We must turn our attention now towards bettering our society, towards working for social justice in eradicating poverty and economic inequality, mending race relations, working towards a fair criminal justice system, increasing the public’s faith in our government institutions and eliminating the perceived disconnect between these institutions and the democratic process,” said JCPA President Rabbi Steve Gutow in a statement. “Peaceful demonstration, democratic engagement and the rule of law are bedrock values of America and must be respected. However, violence is never the answer, and it will not heal the problems we face. In fact, it will exacerbate and add to them.”
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Floods cause emergency in Gaza
(JTA) — The United Nations declared an emergency in Gaza City following flooding.
In the statement published on its website Thursday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, declared a state of emergency in Gaza City, where hundreds of residents in flooded areas have evacuated their homes. No casualties or injuries have been reported.
“We are very concerned about such severe storms this early in the season and on the back of unprecedented damage and destruction caused by the recent conflict,” said UNRWA’s director of operations, Robert Turner, referring to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, the 50-day offensive against Hamas in July following rocket attacks on Israeli cities.
On Wednesday, approximately two inches of precipitation poured down on Gaza and Israel’s coastal plain within several hours, causing floods that exceeded the drainage capacity of Gaza’s weakened infrastructure. Gaza receives approximately 18′ inches of rain annually.
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From PressTV
Winter storms bring fresh misery to Gaza war homeless
The cold season is causing many hardships for thousands of Gazans whose houses were destroyed in the Israeli regime’s recent war on the besieged Palestinian enclave, Press TV reports.
Palestinian sources say homeless Gazans are bearing the brunt of a fierce winter that has engulfed the Palestinian territory for days now.
Latest reports say heavy rains and flooding have brought further misery to the Palestinian families living in makeshift shelters in the rubble of their homes.
Figures show at least 100,000 Palestinians were left homeless as a result of the Tel Aviv regime’s latest military offensive on the besieged sliver.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
French FM: Recognition of ‘Palestine’ in 2016 if talks fail
(JTA) — The French government may recognize a Palestinian state in two years if efforts to revive peace talks fail, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
Fabius made the assertion on Friday in his speech at the end of a debate over the issue in the French National Assembly ahead of a vote planned for Dec. 2.
Fabius added that France will not change its current policy on the Arab-Israeli conflict regardless of how parliament votes on the non-binding draft motion, submitted by the Socialists earlier this month.
“The executive power and it alone will determine the timing of the political opportunity” for recognition of Palestinian statehood, Fabius said.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Britain’s Labour Party reiterates objection to Israel boycott
(JTA) — Britain’s Labour Party reiterated its opposition to boycotting Israel after a municipality voted to support one.
The Midlands Council passed a motion earlier this week resolving to remove goods from the “Israeli Occupied Territories” and condemning Israel for “continuing to ignore and breach international law,” Jewishnews.co.uk reported Wednesday. The council is made up overwhelmingly of Labour party members.
In response, a Labour Party spokesperson said Wednesday that party leader Ed Miliband does not support boycotts.
“They are not the answer and do not progress the cause of peace or help foster negotiations and dialogue,” the spokesperson said.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Peres: Nation-state bill risks religious conflagration
(JTA) — Former Israeli president Shimon Peres criticized a bill proclaiming Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.
Peres, a dovish former prime minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate whose presidential term ended earlier this year, said the bill, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports, could spark a “religious upheaval.”
“The controversy surrounding what’s now called the nation-state law seems to many as an unnecessary addendum that could compromise the people’s uniting values,” Peres said in a speech at Kibbutz Sdeh Boker at an annual memorial ceremony honoring David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister.
Peres labeled the bill “an unnecessary religious argument instead of a broad national agreement, which could turn a political conflict into a religious upheaval that would be difficult to stop.”
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From PressTV
Eizenkot tipped as Israeli military’s chief of staff
Major General Gadi Eizenkot will be appointed as the 21st chief of staff of the Israeli military, Israeli officials say.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and minister of military affairs Moshe Ya’alon reportedly agreed to name the military’s incumbent deputy chief of staff next chief of staff through a statement on Saturday.
Israeli military officials speaking on condition of anonymity said on Friday that Eizenkot, 54, will succeed General Benny Gantz whose tenure will end on February 15.
Eizenkot has held several key positions over the past three decades, including the military’s head of operations during the Second Lebanon War, its West Bank commander and military secretary to former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Eizenkot is also known as one of the outspoken opponents of Israel’s war against Iran without coordination with the US.
Four years ago, at the height of controversies over Israel’s plan to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, Eizenkot wrote a letter to Netanyahu in which he fiercely expressed opposition to any war against Tehran, warning that such a move will drag Israel into a lengthy war with the Islamic Republic and Hezbollah and harm Tel Aviv’s ties with Washington.
