Minister Ayelet Shaked says keeping Israel’s Jewish majority is justified, even ‘at the price’ of rights violations. Israel must safeguard a Jewish majority even at the expense of human rights, the country’s justice minister has said in a speech defending a bill that would legally define Israel as the “national home of the Jewish people” for the first time.
By BBC Fighting continued in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area of Syria during the first daily five-hour “pause” ordered by the government’s ally Russia. Activists said there were government air and artillery strikes, while Russia said rebels had shelled a “humanitarian corridor” meant to let civilians leave. As a result, there were no UN aid deliveries or medical evacuations. Some… Read more »
By Al Jazeera The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has announced it will reopen its doors after Israel decided to suspend legislation regarding collecting taxes from churches and their properties in Jerusalem. Following international pressure and rising protests from Palestinian Christians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the formation of a committee to discuss the imposition of the property tax, or arnona, on Jerusalem’s churches…. Read more »
By The Jerusalem Post As the Turkish offensive in Afrin stretches into its second month, the Kurds are disappointed at the lack of Western response. Since the offensive began in January, villages in Afrin have been shelled and others hit by air strikes. This has led the Assad regime to send its own militia into the province, and to fears… Read more »
By Global Research Qatar’s plans to build a gas pipeline to the Mediterranean were a major cause of the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. Seven years on, Syria’s oil and gas reserves east of the Euphrates, and especially around Deir az-Zour, have the potential to trigger World War III. Four military aircraft were downed over Syria in the course… Read more »
(CNN) Poland’s embassy in Tel Aviv was daubed with swastikas on Sunday, a day after Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki caused outrage by claiming Jews were among the perpetrators of the Holocaust. Profanities were scrawled across a noticeboard outside the embassy and a swastika had been drawn on the entrance gate. Israeli police have opened an investigation into the incident…. Read more »
Saudi Arabian women were allowed into a football stadium to watch a match for the first time on Friday, as the ultra-conservative kingdom begins to gradually ease restrictions on women’s rights. For decades women have been forbidden from male only stadiums but on Friday they were allowed into a Saudi Premier League game in the coastal city of Jeddah. Women were… Read more »
(CNN) Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned unexpectedly on Thursday, after years of upheaval in the troubled east African nation. It was not yet clear who would replace Hailemariam, who has been in power since 2012. He also quit as chairman of the ruling coalition Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The unexpected move comes against the backdrop of violent… Read more »
News24 – Cairo – The Egyptian president declared on Wednesday that his country “scored a goal” by signing a $15bn deal with an Israeli company to supply natural gas that will help turn Egypt into a regional energy hub. President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s televised remarks were the first high-level comments on the deal that fueled controversy on social media. The… Read more »
BBC News— Eastern Ghouta has very literally been under fire recently, as there have been Russian-supported air strikes over the past few days in the area. The region is notably the last major area under rebel-control, and is in the process of being liberated. The Syrians claim to be executing a liberation from terrorists, but it has been reported that… Read more »