SETTLEMENTS

Israel is to hold lavish celebrations over the coming weeks to mark the 50th anniversary of what it calls the “liberation of Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights” – or what the rest of us describe as the birth of the occupation.
The center piece event will take place in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem. The West Bank settlement “bloc” enjoys wide support in Israel, not least because it was established long ago by the supposedly left-wing Labour Party, now heading the opposition.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pauses during his speech to stare at the audience during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015. (AP/Seth Wenig)
Israel is blackmailing developing countries to force them to vote in its favor at the UN, Arabi21 reported the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity revealing yesterday.
According to the site, the organisation’s Director, Azmi Shuaibi, said that Israel uses the funds allocated to the UN to buy votes.

President Donald Trump escorts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his government will not freeze settlements in occupied Jerusalem, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.  He said,
The issue of halting building projects in the Israeli neighborhoods in East Jerusalem is not part of the [current] negotiations with the US administration

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, center right, walks up stairs during his meeting with Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin, in Jerusalem Wednesday, March 8, 2017. (Ronen Zvulun/AP)
(REPORT) — Israel has to choose between a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or an “apartheid system”, the British foreign secretary told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
Boris Johnson made a quick 24-hour visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories on Wednesday in which he met politicians and figures from both sides of the conflict.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. (AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
(REPORT) — President Donald Trump’s administration  is reviewing its participation in the UN Human Rights Council, and pushing for an end to its “obsession with Israel,” a senior US official said on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump escorts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. (AP/Evan Vucci)

David Friedman, nominated to be U.S. Ambassador to Israel, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.(AP/Susan Walsh)
(REPORT) — The largest Jewish group in the US, the Reform Jewish movement, declared on Friday its opposition to the appointment of David Friedman as US ambassador to Israel.

Jordan’s King Abdullah greets Vice President Mike Pence during a visit to the White House (Photo: White House Press Office)

Bright lights, a nightmare-inducing robot and monkey Tinder + this day in history w/the Angel Of Death and our song of the day by Run The Jewels on your Morning Monarchy for February 7, 2017.

A Palestinian man tries to stop work by an Israeli bulldozer during a protest outside the village of Deir Qaddis, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Dozens of Palestinians demonstrated Wednesday in front of Israeli bulldozers that were bulldozing land outside Deir Qaddis village near Ramallah for an apparent plan to expand a nearby Jewish settlement.