Amid days of three-way violence on the West Bank between Palestinian protesters, Jewish settlers and Israeli security forces, global outrage is growing at the death of a young Palestinian man in a demonstration against seizure of village lands.
At least four Palestinians are dead in new Israeli air-strikes on the Gaza Strip—including a home-owner and his 12-year-old son, whose house was destroyed in apparent “collateral damage” from a raid on a nearby Hamas safe-house.
A funeral procession in the West Bank town of Beit Ummar erupted into clashes with Israeli forces after a Jewish settler fired on the group and Palestinian mourners responded by throwing stones. Israeli forces fired tear gas and live bullets.
Israel’s public sector workers walked out for four hours, shutting down trains, buses, airports, banks, government ministries and municipalities. Traffic jams clogged Tel Aviv, and the city’s stock exchange and Ben Gurion International Airport were closed.
Occupy Boston activists “stormed” the Israeli consulate in Beantown, chanting “Occupy Wall Street not Palestine.” The activists were protesting the interception of the Gaza-bound “Freedom Waves” flotilla by Israeli naval forces the day before.
The Israeli government said it will move ahead with “sensitive housing projects” in East Jerusalem and the West Bank as a rebuttal to UNESCO’s decision to grant Palestine full-member status. The US meanwhile cut funds to UNESCO.
The US has already cut funds to the Palestinian Authority as a punitive measure in response to its statehood bid. From Kosova to Somaliland to Western Sahara, numerous other countries around the world similarly wait and sacrifice for UN recognition.
In defiance of pressure from the European Union, Russia and Turkey as well as Arab states, Israel insists it intends to go ahead with the newly announced construction of 1,100 Jewish homes in Gilo on annexed land close to East Jerusalem.
The right-wing blogosphere is having a field day with claims that Palestinian ambassador Maen Rashid Areikat called for “a Jew-free Palestinian state.” But Areikat responds that it’s a “total fabrication” and a “total set-up” by conservo-bloggers.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has broached supporting recognition by the US Senate of the Armenian genocide as part of a diplomatic offensive against Turkey, the Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
Egyptian authorities declared a state of emergency after protesters broke into the Israeli embassy in Cairo and dumped hundreds of documents out of the windows. The embassy’s Israeli flag was torn down, and a Palestinian one raised.
The UN issued its its report on the deadly May 2010 Gaza flotilla raid, criticizing Israel for using “excessive and unreasonable” force but finding that the blockade of the Gaza Strip itself is lawful. Turkey responded by recalling its ambassador from Israel.
