Leon Panetta says there is “a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran” in the Spring—but the US and Israel postpone their unprecedented joint missile defense exercises in a an apparent bid to avoid further escalating tensions with Iran.
The Zionist propaganda machine is having a field day with the latest call from Mufti of Jerusalem Muhammad Ahmad Hussein to “fight the Jews”—as Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman continues to call for “transfer.”
An Israeli government plan to create a greenbelt around Jerusalem is fueling opposition among Palestinians and their supporters., who say the chain of parks is a land grab that consolidates Israel’s grip on disputed East Jerusalem.
In a move assailed by civil rights groups, Israel’s High Court voted to reject a challenge filed against provisions of the Citizenship Law, which bar Palestinians married to Israeli Arabs from receiving citizenship or residency.
Amid growing tensions in the Persian Gulf, the US and Israel are preparing to hold the largest missile defense exercise in the history of the Jewish state. The drill will involve the deployment of thousands of US troops to Israel.
Even as the Israeli government turns more East Jerusalem land over to hardline Jewish settlers, ultra-orthodox Jews clashed with police at Beit Shemesh suburb over a crackdown on their attempts to enforce gender segregation.
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.
