Israeli soldiers set dogs on Palestinian youth

A leaked video showing a 16-year old Palestinian being attacked by two canines, while being held by two IDF soldiers, was posted on Facebook on Monday by former Knesset member and far-rightist Michael Ben-Ari (who later removed it). It quickly spread around the web and made headlines in Israel.

Source : http://972mag.com/watch-soldiers-taunt-set-dogs-on-palestinian-teen/103625/

THE GREAT WALL OF ISRAEL

Israel settlers torch W. Jerusalem Christian school

Israeli settlers torched the rooms of a Christian school and wrote offensive words regarding Jesus Christ.

World Bulletin / News Desk

Israeli settlers on Thursday torched one of the rooms of a Christian religious school in West Jerusalem and inscribed phrases offending to Jesus Christ on its walls.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement that unidentified people had committed a crime of "national proportions."

She added that fire was set to the school room and a toilet used by priests and students of Christianity inside the school.

Samri noted that the attackers also wrote phrases offending to Jesus Christ on walls near the room.

"Firefighters had put off the fire, which caused material damage in the place," Samri said, noting that the fire had not caused any human casualties.

A member of the Revolutionary Council of the Palestinian Fatah movement, meanwhile, said Muslim and Christian places of worship were being increasingly targeted by Jews.

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fully responsible for these crimes," Dimitri Diliani said in a statement.

Diliani called on the United Nations to offer protection for Palestinians and their places of worship.

On Wednesday, a group of Jewish settlers set fire to a mosque near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem and sprayed racist phrases against Arabs and Muslims on its walls, according to a Palestinian official.

Several attacks, called the "price tag," by Jewish settlers targeting Muslim houses of worship have recently been reported in areas across the self-proclaimed Jewish state and the occupied West Bank.

Source : http://www.worldbulletin.net/palestine/155757/israel-settlers-torch-w-jerusalem-christian-school

Suspend EU-Israel treaty, urge dozens of MEPs

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini

A group of 63, cross-party MEPs have urged EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

The Agreement is the main treaty between the EU and Israel that has facilitated trade since 2000, and allows Israel to participate in a wide range of EU initiatives.

The MEPs' letter notes how "Amnesty International and Palestinian organisations have documented that Israel deliberately targeted civilians and committed other war crimes during its recent onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza."

"These are serious violations of international law and international humanitarian law that cannot be tolerated", they add.

The MEPs "call on the Commission to consider the suspension of Association Agreement with Israel unless Israel takes substantial and immediate steps to bring its conduct in line with international law", and point out how

the EU's lack of substantial action with regards to Israel appears out of step with the speed at which it has implemented restrictive measures on Russia with regards to the Ukraine crisis in recent months, as well as the restrictive measures implemented against more than 30 other countries.

In September 2014, Palestinian civil society organisations made a similar plea for suspension to the then- foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, and a similar appeal was also made in November, by more than 300 human rights groups, trade unions and political parties from across Europe.

Source : https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/16594-suspend-eu-israel-treaty-urge-dozens-of-meps

Video : How Israeli Police arrest Palestinians. Very disturbing.

Australian MP exposes Israeli propaganda in Australia about Palestine : David Shoebridge

David Shoebridge

1. Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council

UN accuses Israel of razing homes of 77 Palestinians

© AFP | A bulldozer hired by the Jerusalem municipality destroys a Palestinian house in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Shuafat, on January 21, 2015

JERUSALEM (AFP) -The United Nations has accused Israel of illegally demolishing the homes of 77 Palestinians, mostly children, this week in annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

"In the past three days, 77 Palestinians, over half of them children, have been made homeless," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement issued Friday evening.

"Some of the demolished structures were provided by the international community to support vulnerable families.

"Demolitions that result in forced evictions and displacement run counter to Israel's obligations under international law and create unnecessary suffering and tension. They must stop immediately," said OCHA.

The demolitions took place in east Jerusalem and the districts of Ramallah, Jericho and Hebron, it added.

OCHA said that during 2014 Israel carried out a record number of demolitions in east Jerusalem and a zone of the West Bank under full Israeli control known as Area C.

"In 2014, according to OCHA figures, the Israeli authorities destroyed 590 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C and east Jerusalem, displacing 1,177 people -- the highest level of displacement in the West Bank since OCHA began systematically monitoring the issue in 2008."

It did not specify how many of the structures were homes or animal shelters or other outbuildings.

Israel says such demolitions are carried out because the structures have been built without the required construction permits. Palestinians and rights groups say such authorisation is routinely denied, forcing unlicensed building.

"The planning policies applied by Israel in Area C and east Jerusalem discriminate against Palestinians, making it extremely difficult for them to obtain building permits," said OCHA.

"As a result, many Palestinians build without permits to meet their housing needs and risk having their structures demolished.

"Palestinians must have the opportunity to participate in a fair and equitable planning system that ensures their needs are met," it said.

Source : France 24 International News 24/7