1) Shany Mor gives his observations ‘On Amnesty’s car-crash interview in Israel’ at the Fathom Journal.
“Most of the meta-event around the Amnesty apartheid report followed a grimly predictable script. The outlandish claims, the colourful pdf’s, the outraged responses, the too-smart-for-you response that the outraged responses were only drawing attention to the report — and the relative indifference of nearly everyone who is not involved in the western ‘debate’ about Israel and its conflict with the Palestinians (including most Israelis and Palestinians).
But in one corner of the media there was a very minor event that didn’t quite go according to script. This was a short interview that the Times of Israel’s diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman conducted with the two most senior Amnesty officials presenting the report. Berman asked Agnes Callamard, the organisation’s Secretary General, and Philip Luther, its Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director, a few entirely reasonable questions about the report and its context, none of which should have been surprising for them, and yet they struggled to provide answers even to the simplest ones.”
2) At the Long War Journal, Joe Truzman reports on a new joint operations room.
“A newly formed Joint Operations Room (JOR) called Hizam al-Nar has been established in the West Bank. The JOR is made up of members of Katibat Jenin (Jenin branch of Palestinian Islamic Jihad) and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (Fatah).
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have operated in the West Bank since the second intifada. However, Katibat Jenin appears to be a relatively new formation of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters or a rebranding of its already long-established presence in the West Bank, particularly in the Jenin refugee camp.”
3) At WINEP Ishtar Al Shami explains Syria’s food crisis.
“In areas controlled by the Assad regime, the allocation of bread for one family was set at one bundle for family in 2021, or less than two loaves per person for a family of four. The permitted bread bundles according to the smart card system contain seven loaves, with 1100g weight per bundle, or 275g per person, per day. Bread is the only food available for many families.
To access these rations, families must use a “smart card” system implemented by the Takamol company—with close connections to Syria’s first lady Asmaa al-Assad. Aside from bread rations, this card also provides access to other necessities experiencing mass shortages, including gas and fuel. Such benefits are only provided to those who have the card and meet certain criteria. This criteria excludes some segments of the population, such as people who own private cars or those who are unable to produce the Syrian equivalent of a social security number. This last requirement in particular excludes the children of most Palestinian refugees living in Syria.”
4) Marcus Sheff looks at ‘The Palestinian Textbook Revision That Never Was’ at the Algemeiner.
“In June 2021, after years of educating, persuading, presenting the hard facts, and preventing a whitewash, the European Union released its report on Palestinian Authority (PA) textbooks.
The EU found, inevitably, that these Palestinian education materials teach antisemitism, incite violence, glorify terror, and have removed all previous references to peace negotiations. […]
By September 2021, the PA — finally faced with the prospect of losing funding from its largest donor — agreed to a “roadmap” with the EU Commission. This should have been the moment that hate, antisemitism, and incitement to violence were finally taken out of the Palestinian curriculum, and replaced with peace education.”
