From PressTV
Hebrew-Arabic school in al-Quds torched, vandalized 
A bilingual school in al-Quds (Jerusalem) has been torched and vandalized in a suspected arson and hate crime attack.
The Hebrew-Arabic Max Rayne Hand in Hand school’s kindergarten in southwestern al-Quds was set ablaze and vandalized with hateful anti-Arab graffiti on Saturday night.
Police say initial investigations show that the fire was started from inside the school.
No injuries were reported in the incident but several parts of the school were seriously damaged by the fire.
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From PressTV
1,000s evacuated as heavy flooding hits Gaza Strip
Thousands of Palestinians have been evacuated from their homes and moved to safer places in the Gaza Strip after heavy flooding struck the besieged coastal sliver earlier this week.
Among those affected on Saturday were families who had lost their homes during Israel’s 50-day summer war against the Palestinian enclave.
“We have been homeless for more than three months. Now our suffering increased due to the heavy rain,” Na’eem Jendeya, a resident of Gaza City’s eastern neighborhood of Shuja’iyya, said.
The Israeli war ended on August 26 with a truce that took effect after indirect negotiations in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. The onslaught killed nearly 2,140 Palestinians and injured thousands of others.
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From PressTV
Al-Qaeda claims attack on US Yemen embassy
Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen claim they have detonated two bombs outside the US Embassy in the capital, Sana’a, killing several guards, a US-based monitoring group says.
The SITE Intelligence Group quoted an al-Qaeda-linked Twitter account as saying on Saturday that the militants set off remote-controlled explosive devices at the northern gate of the US Embassy on Thursday night.
The militant group said the attack caused casualties among the ranks of the embassy security guards.
There has been, however, no comment from US officials about any attack at the diplomatic mission.
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From the Independent
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 reportedWednesday. 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 PressTV
Israel ex-spy chief slams Netanyahu as ‘egomaniac’
The former head of Israeli spy service Shin Bet has lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his scenario of Judaizing the occupied Palestinian territories, calling the premier an “egomaniac.”
“Israel is headed today by a bunch of pyromaniacs and is being led by an egomaniac to its final destruction,” Carmi Gillon said on Saturday, addressing a demonstration against the so-called Jewish state law in front of Netanyahu’s residence in al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Following a stormy meeting on November 23, the Israeli cabinet voted in favor of the controversial motion in another sign of increasing efforts to Judaize the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israeli MPs are set to vote on the bill on Wednesday.
The newly-introduced law will eat Israel’s body “like a cancer,” he added.
From PressTV
Hundreds of Israelis protest controversial draft bill
Hundreds of leftwing Israelis have gathered on the streets of al-Quds (Jerusalem) protesting a controversial bill defining Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people.
Saturday night’s protest was organized by Israel’s Peace Now settlement watchdog and was held in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home.
Peace now said the protest was “an opportunity to let the democratic camp’s voice be heard against the draft law,” which embodies “nationalism, racism and aggression.”
According to Netanyahu, the draft would bring balance to Israel’s Jewish and democratic characteristics.
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From PressTV
Arab Leauge to submit Palestine statehood bid to UN
The Arab League (AL) says it plans to present a draft resolution on Palestine’s statehood to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which also calls for the full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories.
On Saturday, Arab League foreign ministers said in a statement that they agreed on a plan which includes submitting an “Arab proposal to the United Nations Security Council to end the (Israeli) occupation” of the Palestinian territories.
The decision came following an extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, which was attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Arab ministers, however, did not say when the draft resolution would be presented to the UNSC.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Why Did Israel’s President Just Oppose Bibi’s Bill?
(JTA) Reuven Rivlin just did the one thing Israel’s president — a largely ceremonial post — doesn’t usually do: He publicly, and vehemently, opposed a specific bill endorsed by the government and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Addressing a conference in Eilat, Rivlin lambasted the controversial Nation-State Law, advanced this week by Israel’s Cabinet and which seeks to enshrine Israel’s Jewish character in law.
Supporters of the law say it merely places the two sides of Israel’s “Jewish and democratic” character on equal footing and reinforces the state’s Jewishness against its enemies. But the law’s opponents say it gives primacy to Israel’s Jewish side. They point to the absence of the word “equality” in the bill and note that the bill fails to guarantee collective rights to Israel’s minorities.
From the Jewish Daily Forward
Henry Kissinger, Barbara Walters at World Jewish Congress Dinner
Hailing Henry Kissinger, honoree at its Theodor Herzl Award Dinner, World Jewish Congress president ** Ronald Lauder** said of America’s first Jewish Secretary of State that “during his shuttle diplomacy, he made it clear to Golda Meir — that he was an American first, Secretary of State second, and a Jew third. Golda replied ‘Fine since Israelis read from right to left.” And that when Richard Nixon mentioned to Golda Meir that the U.S. and Israel both had Jewish foreign ministers —Kissinger and Abba Eban — Meir agreed ‘That’s true. But ours speaks English.’”
Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/the-shmooze/#story-1#ixzz3KXQYuCQD
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