News Roundup for January 21, 2022

January 21, 2022
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J Street works to promote an open, honest and rigorous conversation about Israel. The opinions reflected in articles posted in the News Roundup do not necessarily reflect J Street’s positions, and their posting does not constitute an endorsement from J Street.

Top News and Analysis

US: Israel Must Refrain From Palestinian Demolitions Like in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem Post
Israel must halt its demolition of Palestinian homes, the United States and other members of the UN Security Council declared after it razed two homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah early Wednesday morning.

Israeli Forces Kill Two Elderly Palestinians in Two Weeks, Jewish Currents
The latest victims of the occupation include a US citizen and a revered nonviolent activist.

News

Palestinian-American Died Handcuffed in Israeli Custody, Witnesses Say, The New York Times
Omar Assad, 78, had hoped to see his children in the U.S. one more time. Instead he died after being detained by Israeli soldiers.

Blinken: Iran Nuclear Talks at ‘Urgent’ Point; Source Says Next Month Is Decisive, Haaretz
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that talks over Iran’s nuclear program have reached an “urgent” point and warned it would be necessary to take a different course with Tehran if no progress is made.

Israel’s Attorney General Orders Probe of NSO Spyware Claims, AP
Israel’s police chief said Thursday that he had ordered an extensive investigation into a newspaper’s claims that the force had used controversial Israeli spyware to hack the phones of protesters, mayors and other citizens under investigation without proper authorization.

U.N. Approves Israeli Measure to Condemn Holocaust Denial, The New York Times
The United Nations on Thursday adopted an Israeli resolution that condemns denial and distortion of the Holocaust, the Nazi genocide that killed nearly six million Jews and millions of others.

PLO Decision-Making Body to Convene Next Month Amid Rising Criticism of Abbas, Jerusalem Post
The Palestinian Central Council (PCC), also known as the PLO Central Council, will convene in Ramallah on February 6 to discuss Israel’s “colonial and settlement war” against the Palestinians, Salim al-Zanoun, chairman of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the Palestinians’ parliament-in-exile, announced on Thursday.

Israeli General Turned Lawmaker Emerges as Settler Critic, AP
Retired general Yair Golan spent a significant part of his military career serving in the occupied West Bank, protecting Jewish settlements. Today, he is one of their most vocal critics.

Opinion and Analysis

As Naqab Protests Intensify, Bedouin Women Are Taking the Helm, +972 Mag
Samah Salaime writes, “Women and girls are increasingly on the front lines of Bedouin resistance to Israel’s expropriation of their land — and they’re just getting started.”

There’s a Mass Palestinian Grave at a Popular Israeli Beach, Veterans Confess, Haaretz
The Israeli veterans of the 1948 battle at Tantura village finally come clean about the mass killing of Arabs that took place after the village’s surrender.