At the Conferences
- If you’ve been living under a rock this week, Ed “I’m my own man” Miliband has been made Labour leader.
- According to Haaretz, Ed departs from “the pro-Israel proclamations of previous British prime ministers“, while Middle East Monitor welcomes the election of a man who has declared in his ”Israel must accept and recognise in its actions the Palestinian right to statehood” and whose words were particularly welcomed by Labour Friends of Palestine.
- The Jewish Chronicle, among others, have drawn attention to his Mum’s work with the advocacy group Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JfJfP).
- Video of our second fringe event, “Accountability for War Crimes“, is now online. The speakers were Carla Ferstman of REDRESS, who talked about Universal Jurisdiction, and Sarah Colborne of PSC, who gave a moving account of her time onboard the Mavi Marmara. Take a look.
Gaza
- JfJfP sent an aid boat to Gaza, which was seized offshore by the Israeli navy. Read the peace activists’ testimony here and a BBC report here.
- Read Raymond Deane’s review of Eyes in Gaza on EI. Eyes in Gaza is “a detailed and harrowing account by the Norwegian doctors Mads Gilbert and Erik Fosse of their experiences in al-Shifa Hospital during Israel’s deadly assault on Gaza in December 2008-January 2009″.
- The U.N. Human Rights Council voted on Wednesday to endorse the report of a U.N. fact-finding mission that accused Israeli commandos of summarily executing six passengers on a Turkish aid flotilla in May.
West Bank
- Oxford Research Group‘s Gabrielle Rifkind has an excellent piece on the Guardian website, Solving the West Bank Settler Problem, discussing Israeli settlers who “range from secular quality-of-life settlers – particularly those east of the barrier who now seek to return to Israel – to national religious settlers who have become increasingly embattled, outspoken and active.”
- MEMO reports that Israel “used toxic substances against civilians in Silwan“. Read further analysis here.
Talks
- Building has started again in Israeli settlements – including plans for a new shopping mall – leading The Economist to argue that the ‘peace talks’ have stumbled at the first hurdle.
- What will (can?) Obama do? We’ll see. In the meantime, John Esposito and Sheila Lalwani urge the President to ‘seize the opportunity‘ in an interesting piece in the Huffington Post.
- French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for peace talks in Paris.
- The Arab League will now meet on October 6th to discuss the significance of Israel’s failure to renew the settlement freeze.
And elsewhere
- CNI Executive Director Philip Giraldi has written two new articles on the pro-Israel lobby in the States. Check them out here (‘Wake Up, America!’) and here (‘A Bipartisan Look at the Israel Lobby’).
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