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Israel, Morocco to Build Two Drone Factories

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (R) with his Moroccan counterpart Abdellatif Loudiyi. (Photo: via Benny Gantz Twitter page)

Morocco and Israel are preparing to build two factories for unmanned aircraft in the North Africa state’s Al-Aoula region, media reported on Thursday.

Moroccan and Israeli official sources told Shephard Media that the construction of the two factories had come in accordance with a security cooperation agreement that was signed between the two countries on November 24.

The sources added that the two factories were “likely to be built in the kingdom’s northeastern and southern areas,” noting that the produced drones would be “Moroccan-made and would carry out offensive strikes as well as collect intelligence information.”

The joint project, the sources pointed out, had come after “several months of negotiations with Israel’s Bluebird Aero System.”

Bluebird Aero System is semi-owned by the Israel Aerospace Industrial and its board is chaired by Amir Peretz, the former Israeli defense minister.

(MEMO, PC, Social Media)

2:42 pm | Posted in Blog | News | Read More »

Conservative MP Says UK Will Outlaw BDS ‘in Following Months’ (VIDEO)

UK lawmaker Robert Jenrick. (Photo: via Wikimedia Commons)

UK lawmaker Robert Jenrick said that legislation would be passed to outlaw Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, Israeli media reported.

The comments were made at the Leadership Dialogue Institute (LDI), described on its website as a ‘private diplomatic channel’ to strengthen ties between the UK, Israel and Australia, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Former housing minister Jenrick was participating in an event covering the pandemic, Israeli technology and antisemitism, at a ‘conversation’ titled “Why Do So Many People Hate Jews?”

He said: “In the following months, we will be working to outlaw BDS in the UK.”

He continued by saying he felt like BDS wasn’t being “beaten back”.

He added: “There is no political party in the UK that would support BDS today and [supporting BDS] is becoming much more of a fringe activity.”

The meeting was chaired by former chair of Labour Friends of Israel and ex-MP for Enfield North, and featured Likud MK Avi Dichter.

This comes after London City University were threatened with legal action by UK Lawyers for Israel, after the student union voted overwhelmingly to back BDS at the university.

(MEMO, PC, Social Media)

2:32 pm | Posted in Blog | News | Videos | Read More »

WATCH: Jewish Settlers Brutally Attack Palestinian Villagers Near Nablus

Several Palestinian villagers sustained wounds and fractures in a settler attack against the village of Qaryout. (Photo: via Social Media)

Several Palestinian villagers sustained wounds and fractures early Friday in a settler attack against the village of Qaryout, south of Nablus, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors Israeli colonial activities in the northern West Bank, told WAFA that Jewish settlers attacked many houses in the northern West Bank town, causing damage and injuring many villagers.

The casualties were rushed to several hospitals in Nablus for treatment.

Daghlas added that the assailants attempted to kidnap a man, but the town residents rushed to his aid and succeeded in freeing him before the assailants fled the scene.

He cautioned against a serious escalation of settler attacks against the Palestinians and their property, particularly in villages close to encroaching settlements, and called on villagers to remain alert.

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.

Settler violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.

There are over 600,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

(WAFA, PC, Social Media)

1:53 pm | Posted in Blog | News | Videos | Read More »

US Holds off on Reopening Consulate in Occupied East Jerusalem

US Consulate in occupied East Jerusalem. (Photo: via Wikipedia)

The United States has backtracked on its pledge to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to reopen its consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, the Times of Israel revealed on Wednesday.

The Israeli newspaper said that it has been seven months since the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified PA President Mahmoud Abbas of the Biden administration’s plan to reopen the US Consulate in Jerusalem. No progress has since been made on the plan.

Reporting a US diplomat and a source familiar with the matter, the paper said the Biden administration has effectively shelved its effort to reopen the mission.

The Times of Israel said that the US position is that it “will move forward with the process of reopening the consulate in Jerusalem,” but the three sources confirmed to it that no such process has begun. Officials are now shifting their focus to policies which are more likely to impact day-to-day life for Palestinians.

This is a result of the significant pushback from Israel, which would have to sign off on the move.

(MEMO, PC, Social Media)

2:47 pm | Posted in Blog | News | Read More »

Hamas: Israel is Not Serious about Reaching Prisoners Exchange Deal

Protest in support of Palestinian prisoners in Ramallah. (Photo: via Social Media)

The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas said on Wednesday that Israel is not serious about reaching a prisoner swap deal, Al-Aqsa TV reported.

In an exclusive interview with the channel, senior Hamas leader, Khalil Al-Hayya, said:

“The [Israeli] occupation is not serious about reaching a prisoner swap… We will continue our efforts to release our prisoners using every means.”

Israel believes the bodies of two of its soldiers, Lieutenant Hadar Goldin and Sergeant Oron Shaul, are being held in Gaza after they were killed in battle during the 2014 assault on the enclave. Additionally, Avera Mengistu and Hisham Al-Sayed are being held as prisoners of war, according to Hamas.

Al-Hayya added that the Israeli occupation continues its violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque, warning that this would trigger a new response by the Palestinian resistance.

The Palestinian resistance movement seeks to guarantee the release of about 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in return for the Israeli soldiers.

(MEMO, PC, Social Media)

2:39 pm | Posted in Blog | News | Read More »

Israeli Forces Raid Refugee Camp, Injure two Palestinian Minors near Hebron

Israeli forces raid Al-Arroub refugee camp. (Photo: via Twitter)

Two Palestinian minors sustained injuries as Israeli forces raided al-Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron (Al-Khalil), the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Eyewitnessed told WAFA that Israeli occupation forces stormed the camp, triggering confrontations, and opened fire towards the camp residents, hitting two minors with rubber-coated steel bullets and causing dozens of others to suffocate from tear gas.

The minors were rushed to a hospital for urgent treatment. The suffocation cases received treatment at the scene.

Israeli forces frequently raid Palestinian houses almost on a daily basis across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents.

(WAFA, PC, Social Media)

2:33 pm | Posted in Blog | News | Read More »

Palestinian Mother of a 5-Year-Old Child Rearrested under Administrative Order

Palestinian prisoner Shurouq al-Badan. (Photo: via WAFA)

Shurouq al-Badan, 27, a Palestinian mother from Bethlehem, was arrested for the third time in less than two years, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

WAFA reported the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) as saying that Badan was first detained in 2019 and spent one year in administrative detention without charge or trial.

She was re-detained in September of last year and spent another six months in administrative detention before being released in May, only to be detained again on December 8 and then slammed with a four-month administrative detention order for her political activity against the Israeli occupation.

The PPS said Badan, one of 32 Palestinian women held in Damon prison, are subjected to very harsh conditions and have to spend most of their days in damp and humid rooms, particularly in the winter season, and are constantly monitored through surveillance cameras.

(WAFA, PC, Social Media)

2:27 pm | Posted in Blog | News | Read More »

Latest Israeli Aggression on Syria Kills One Soldier; Most Missiles Intercepted

Israel has carried out hundreds of air raids in neighboring Syria in violation of international law. (Photo: File)

Syrian air defenses shot down “most of” the incoming missiles that were reportedly launched by Israel from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights in a fresh attack on the country’s territory, Syria’s state media reported.

The Israeli  military reportedly pummeled several areas in southern Syria with missiles shortly after midnight on Thursday local time, Syria’s state SANA news agency reported, citing military officials.

The Syrian air defenses were scrambled to repel the attack and intercepted the majority of the missiles launched from the direction of the Golan Heights, the agency said.

“Our air defenses responded to an Israeli aggression that targeted some points in the southern region and shot down most of the hostile missiles,” the military source said.

However, the strike has led to the killing of one Syrian soldier and inflicted “material losses,” according to SANA.

Israel routinely bombards the Syrian territory in mostly overnight raids at the pretext of targeting Iranian positions there. Earlier this month, the Syrian port near the city of Latakia was targeted in yet another suspected Israeli raid that sparked a major blaze at a portside storage area.

The attacks which are rarely acknowledged by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have led to multiple civilian casualties throughout the years. Just last month at least two Syrian civilians were killed and six soldiers were injured in an alleged Israeli missile strike believed to be carried out from Lebanese airspace.

(RT, PC)

1:36 am | Posted in Blog | News | Read More »

Israeli Occupation Forces Raid Birzeit University Campus in West Bank (VIDEO)

Students at Birzeit University are regularly subjected to intimidation, assault and arbitrary arrest by Israeli soldiers. (Photo: via Social Media)

Israeli occupation forces raided the campus of Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank at dawn on Tuesday The New Arab reported.

Israeli soldiers broke into campus at around 4 am after beating the guards, and forced their way into the faculties of science, engineering, pharmacology, and postgraduate studies, sources at the university told The New Arab.

The soldiers searched the faculties’ buildings and other campus facilities for two hours, damaging some of the contents inside, according to the sources.

Dr. Ghassan Al-Khatib, deputy to the university president, described the raid as “a dangerous escalation against education in Palestine”.

“The raid directly threatens academic freedom and university life, and comes as a continuation of the Israeli attack against Palestinian society in general,” he told The New Arab.

Birzeit University is one the oldest and largest Palestinian universities in the West Bank, with around 14,500 registered students in 2020, according to university records.

About 70 students from Birzeit University are currently under Israeli arrest, according to the spokesperson.

(The New Arab, PC, Social Media)

1:34 pm | Posted in Blog | News | Videos | Read More »

Toronto University Rejects IHRA Definition of Antisemitism

University of Toronto sign. (Photo: Maksim Sokolov, via Wikimedia Commons)

The controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism has been rejected by the University of Toronto’s Antisemitism Working Group, according to an official statement recently released by the university.

The move follows a year of consultation over the best way to combat racism faced by Jewish students.

The working groups were established last December as part of the university’s commitment to addressing all kinds of racism and discrimination faced by members of its academic community.

Its findings draw on nearly 700 survey responses, more than 200 email submissions, six focus groups, and several interviews with Jewish student organizations, as well as Jewish religious leaders.

In the recently-published final report, both advocates and critics of the IHRA definition of antisemitism noted its potential as a basis for banning controversial speech and events, particularly when critical of the State of Israel. Seven of the eleven examples included within the definition conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Jewish racism.

While noting that several governments, including those of Canada and Ontario, and some universities in the US and Britain have adopted the controversial definition, believing it to be “a non-legally binding working definition”, the working group in Toronto warned that it would have a chilling effect on free speech on campuses.

“The principal drafter of the IHRA working definition, Kenneth Stern, has repeatedly cautioned against its official adoption as a legal or quasi-legal instrument, particularly in the university context,” said the working group. Stern warned against its adoption on the grounds that it was developed not as a way of regulating speech, but as a way of measuring trends in antisemitic incidents in Europe over time and across borders.

Rejecting the IHRA, the working group warned that it undermines the very culture and ethos promoted by academic institutions.

“The university’s distinctive position in society precludes the adoption of any definition as a basis for banning the expression of controversial, troubling, or offensive views. It also precludes the adoption of any definition that demands that anyone who criticizes one country must criticize any other country that engages in similar conduct.”

Explaining the reason for rejecting the IHRA, Arthur Ripstein, the chair of the working group said: “The reason that we are not recommending the adoption of the IHRA, or other definitions, is that all of them are designed for different purposes.”

He explained that the IHRA along with other definitions that were considered are unsuited to the distinctive context of the university. “Adoption of them would not integrate with the requirements on us and our other existing policy commitments,” Ripstein added.

University of Toronto President Meric Gertler, Acting Vice-President and Provost Trevor Young, and Vice-President, People Strategy, Equity, and Culture Kelly Hannah-Moffat said that they were pleased to accept all of the working group’s recommendations.

(MEMO, PC, Social Media)

1:16 pm | Posted in Blog | News | Read More »
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