JAI: An Eye on Palestine–Dec. 1, 2015

JAI: An Eye on Palestine–Dec. 1, 2015

No lights in Bethlehem’s Christmas, in solidarity with the martyrs

This year, the municipality of Bethlehem decided not to make the Christmas celebrations as it does every year: the events will happen but in a quiet and less lightening way.

Vera Babun, the city’s mayor spoke to PNN about the decision of changing some of the planning events. “We are not cancelling the events: all the events from today until the end of the 24th will be taking place. But we, for example, replaced the fireworks in the tree lightening with the ringing of the bells, the ringing of the bells of Bethlehem”.  Read more

Israel Suspends EU Role in Peace Process With Palestinians

Israel announced on Sunday it was unilaterally suspending the European Union’s role in the peace process with the Palestinians following the bloc’s decision to explicitly label goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The EU approved new guidelines last month stating that Israeli exporters must explicitly label farm goods and cosmetics that come from settlements when they are sold in member states – a move European officials said was technical, not political, but which was met with anger and outrage in Israel.  Read more

Vote backing boycott challenges feminists to take clear stand on Palestine

Members of the National Women’s Studies Association have voted to endorse the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) on Israel in a landslide vote.

Almost 90 percent of voting members – 653 scholars – backed a resolution developed by Feminists for Justice in/for Palestine, a group that has been active since NWSA’s 2014 conference in Puerto Rico.

At that conference, nearly 800 participants had signed a petition calling on the organization to declare its support for BDS.

“In the present moment, our counterparts in Palestine face daily violations of their human rights, including their academic rights to free speech, assembly, association and movement,” the resolution states. “At the same time, Israeli institutions of higher learning have not challenged, but instead legitimized, Israel’s oppressive policies and violations.”  Read more