22 mar 2016
Israeli fanatic settlers and intelligence officers stormed on early Tuesday morning the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, sparking tension across Occupied Jerusalem.
According to local sources, hordes of Israeli extremist settlers and intelligence officers defiled the plazas of the holy Mosque.
The peaceful Muslim sit-inners kept chanting Allah is the Greatest in protest at the sacrilegious break-in. Israeli police troops and special forces escorted the Israeli fanatics all the way through the incursion.
Israeli break-ins at al-Aqsa place of worship —the third holiest site in Islam— have fanned the flames of the ongoing anti-occupation intifada, which started in early October.
According to local sources, hordes of Israeli extremist settlers and intelligence officers defiled the plazas of the holy Mosque.
The peaceful Muslim sit-inners kept chanting Allah is the Greatest in protest at the sacrilegious break-in. Israeli police troops and special forces escorted the Israeli fanatics all the way through the incursion.
Israeli break-ins at al-Aqsa place of worship —the third holiest site in Islam— have fanned the flames of the ongoing anti-occupation intifada, which started in early October.
First Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Dr. Ahmad Bahar called on Palestinian factions to get united on the approach of resistance and to maintain constants of the Palestinian Question as well as to work on liberating the Palestinian land and prisoners.
Bahar’s statements came in a visit, on Monday, paid by a delegation of the PLC to the family of Sheikh Ahmad Yasin, the founder of Hamas Movement, to mark the 12th anniversary of his martyrdom after being assassinated by Israeli forces.
Bahar said assassinating leaders and murdering children will not make Palestinian people surrender, and stressed on resistance as the the only way to the liberation of Palestine.
Bahar’s statements came in a visit, on Monday, paid by a delegation of the PLC to the family of Sheikh Ahmad Yasin, the founder of Hamas Movement, to mark the 12th anniversary of his martyrdom after being assassinated by Israeli forces.
Bahar said assassinating leaders and murdering children will not make Palestinian people surrender, and stressed on resistance as the the only way to the liberation of Palestine.
A statistical report issued by Quds Press revealed that over 700 Jewish settlers stormed the plazas of the Aqsa Mosque since the beginning of March.
Quds Press pointed out that Israeli police provide settlers, who break into the Aqsa’s courtyards, with protection during their repeated incursions into the Muslims’ holy site and allow them to conduct Talmudic rituals at the Mosque.
On the other hand, Israeli police bar 50 Palestinian women and 5 men from accessing the Aqsa Mosque and performing prayers in it.
Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs of Jordan Hayel Daoud declared on Saturday that the ministry will set up 55 surveillance cameras at the plazas of the Aqsa Mosque in order to document and expose Israeli violations.
Meanwhile, groups of Israeli settlers called for massive incursions into the Aqsa Mosque next Wednesday and Thursday to mark the Jewish Purim festival.
Quds Press pointed out that Israeli police provide settlers, who break into the Aqsa’s courtyards, with protection during their repeated incursions into the Muslims’ holy site and allow them to conduct Talmudic rituals at the Mosque.
On the other hand, Israeli police bar 50 Palestinian women and 5 men from accessing the Aqsa Mosque and performing prayers in it.
Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs of Jordan Hayel Daoud declared on Saturday that the ministry will set up 55 surveillance cameras at the plazas of the Aqsa Mosque in order to document and expose Israeli violations.
Meanwhile, groups of Israeli settlers called for massive incursions into the Aqsa Mosque next Wednesday and Thursday to mark the Jewish Purim festival.
The Palestinian Return Center (PRC) on Monday discussed the policy of demolishing homes pursued by Israel against the Palestinian people.
This came during a meeting held by the center on the sidelines of a UN Human Rights Council's session in Geneva.
The meeting focused on Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes and infrastructure as part of its mass punishment policy against the Palestinian families.
The participants in the meeting called for necessarily deterring such Israeli racist measure, which violates the international law.
Israel has demolished dozens of homes that belongs to families of Palestinian young men accused of attacking Israelis since the start of al-Quds intifada (uprising) in early October.
This came during a meeting held by the center on the sidelines of a UN Human Rights Council's session in Geneva.
The meeting focused on Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes and infrastructure as part of its mass punishment policy against the Palestinian families.
The participants in the meeting called for necessarily deterring such Israeli racist measure, which violates the international law.
Israel has demolished dozens of homes that belongs to families of Palestinian young men accused of attacking Israelis since the start of al-Quds intifada (uprising) in early October.
The Palestinian anti-occupation uprising will keep on going as peace talks have reached a deadlock, Head of the National Initiative Movement MP Mustafa al-Barghouti said.
Speaking in an exclusive statement to the PIC, MP al-Barghouti said the pace of the Palestinian Intifada rises and falls depending on the circumstances.
“The intifada amounts to an act of popular national rebellion against the status quo. It is a reaction to the failure of peace talks and the Oslo accords,” he said.
According to al-Barghouti, “there is a sense in which the ongoing uprising cannot be compared to the first and second Palestinian intifadas.” “The underway uprising echoes Palestinians’ longing for a new national strategy as negotiations have reached a deadlock,” he added.
“The future of the intifada will largely depend on how far the different Palestinian factions will be able to adapt to the emerging circumstances and preserve national security,” the MP further noted.
Al-Barghouti called on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to form a unified national leadership and brush aside futile negotiations in order to boost anti-occupation activism.
Speaking in an exclusive statement to the PIC, MP al-Barghouti said the pace of the Palestinian Intifada rises and falls depending on the circumstances.
“The intifada amounts to an act of popular national rebellion against the status quo. It is a reaction to the failure of peace talks and the Oslo accords,” he said.
According to al-Barghouti, “there is a sense in which the ongoing uprising cannot be compared to the first and second Palestinian intifadas.” “The underway uprising echoes Palestinians’ longing for a new national strategy as negotiations have reached a deadlock,” he added.
“The future of the intifada will largely depend on how far the different Palestinian factions will be able to adapt to the emerging circumstances and preserve national security,” the MP further noted.
Al-Barghouti called on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to form a unified national leadership and brush aside futile negotiations in order to boost anti-occupation activism.
The Israeli government has adjourned the discussion of the execution law against Palestinian activists to the end of March, Haaretz newspaper reported.
It was decided to discuss the legitimization of the execution law by the Israeli ministerial committee on Sunday.
The law was called for by Israel Beiteinu party and stipulates for facilitating death penalty against Palestinians who are convicted of carrying out attacks against Israeli targets.
The newspaper expected the proposed law to be endorsed by the committee in preparation for putting it into vote at the Knesset for final ratification.
The Israeli government has not decided yet whether the coalition members in the committee will be allowed to support the law or not, the newspaper pointed out. For his part, Israel Beiteinu right-wing party led by Avigdor Lieberman slammed the decision, saying that the government adjourned the discussion because of its fears of international condemnation.
Lieberman had repeatedly demanded executing Palestinian prisoners for carrying out attacks against Israeli targets. He renewed his demand of killing Palestinians who conduct anti-occupation attacks as an attempt to halt the Jerusalem Intifada after the failure of all of the Israeli repressive procedures in this regard.
It was decided to discuss the legitimization of the execution law by the Israeli ministerial committee on Sunday.
The law was called for by Israel Beiteinu party and stipulates for facilitating death penalty against Palestinians who are convicted of carrying out attacks against Israeli targets.
The newspaper expected the proposed law to be endorsed by the committee in preparation for putting it into vote at the Knesset for final ratification.
The Israeli government has not decided yet whether the coalition members in the committee will be allowed to support the law or not, the newspaper pointed out. For his part, Israel Beiteinu right-wing party led by Avigdor Lieberman slammed the decision, saying that the government adjourned the discussion because of its fears of international condemnation.
Lieberman had repeatedly demanded executing Palestinian prisoners for carrying out attacks against Israeli targets. He renewed his demand of killing Palestinians who conduct anti-occupation attacks as an attempt to halt the Jerusalem Intifada after the failure of all of the Israeli repressive procedures in this regard.
21 mar 2016
A Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs committee met with officials from the International Criminal Court on Sunday in Jordan to discuss “illegal Israeli policies and practices,” the Palestinian foreign minister said.
In a statement released on Monday, Riyad al-Maliki said the meetings in the Jordanian capital Amman were part of efforts by the ICC prosecutor’s office to determine if there were enough elements to open an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The issues to be addressed in the meetings, al-Maliki said, included the expansion of illegal settlements, crimes committed by Israeli settlers, the mass incarceration of Palestinians by Israel, and the ongoing “aggression against our people and our land, especially in the Gaza Strip.”
“We are determined to go ahead until the occupation authorities are held accountable for the ongoing crimes against our people.”
The Palestinian government formally joined the ICC last year, as part of an increased focus on diplomatic maneuvering and appeals to international bodies, and an attempt to move away from the stalled US-led peace process.
Palestinian leadership has since submitted a number of reports to the ICC regarding Israeli violations of international law.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed requests to join the ICC and 16 other conventions in 2015 after the United Nations Security Council failed to adopt a resolution paving the way to full Palestinian statehood.
In a statement released on Monday, Riyad al-Maliki said the meetings in the Jordanian capital Amman were part of efforts by the ICC prosecutor’s office to determine if there were enough elements to open an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The issues to be addressed in the meetings, al-Maliki said, included the expansion of illegal settlements, crimes committed by Israeli settlers, the mass incarceration of Palestinians by Israel, and the ongoing “aggression against our people and our land, especially in the Gaza Strip.”
“We are determined to go ahead until the occupation authorities are held accountable for the ongoing crimes against our people.”
The Palestinian government formally joined the ICC last year, as part of an increased focus on diplomatic maneuvering and appeals to international bodies, and an attempt to move away from the stalled US-led peace process.
Palestinian leadership has since submitted a number of reports to the ICC regarding Israeli violations of international law.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed requests to join the ICC and 16 other conventions in 2015 after the United Nations Security Council failed to adopt a resolution paving the way to full Palestinian statehood.
By CJ Werleman
While there hasn’t been a single question about US support for Israel in any of the dozen or so Democratic presidential debates, the Israel-Palestinian conflict has returned to centre stage on the Republican side of the 2016 presidential race. The reason the conflict has again become relevant to US conservatives, consuming as much time as other any topic during any of the past few GOP debates, is Donald Trump promised to be a “neutral” broker for peace.
Trump’s promise has given his GOP presidential rivals an opportunity to attack him from the right, which means Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich have dusted off their very best Israel Lobby generated talking points. Chief among them is the one that posits all Palestinians as maniacal suicide-bombers in waiting. “The notion of neutrality is based upon the Left buying into this moral relativism that is often pitched in the media.
Listen, it is not equivalent. When you have terrorists strapping dynamite around their chests, exploding and murdering innocent women and children, they are not equivalent to the IDF officers protecting Israel. And I will not pretend that they are,” thundered Trump’s nearest rival Cruz. In mainstream US political discourse, Palestinians are presented as blood-lustful Jew killers, living alongside an Israeli state that is portrayed as a “Fort Apache,” surrounded by indigenous savages who don’t want peace.
“The Palestinian Authority has walked away from multiple efforts to make peace - very generous offers from the Israelis,” Rubio asserted. "Instead, here's what the Palestinians do: They teach their four-year-old children that killing Jews is a glorious thing.
Here's what Hamas does: They launch rockets and terrorist attacks against Israel on an ongoing basis.” Thus the pro-Israel one-two punch: Palestinians are “bloodthirsty desperados” and wish for conflict over peace. “The bottom line is, a deal between Israel and the Palestinians - given the current makeup of the Palestinians - is not possible,” says Rubio.
This Israeli narrative is often wrapped up with the failed 2000 Camp David peace talks, which falsely accuses Yasser Arafat of walking away from a deal that offered Palestinians 90 percent of what they want. “It is a terrible myth that Arafat and only Arafat caused this catastrophic failure. All three parties made mistakes, and in such complex negotiations everyone is bound to…No one is to blame,” a US special envoy to Jerusalem told The New York Times. Even Israel’s lead negotiator, Shlomo Ben-Ami, remarked, “Camp David was not the missed opportunity for the Palestinians, and if I were a Palestinian I would have rejected Camp David as well.”
If Palestinians don’t wish for peace, explain how polls show two-thirds of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are in favour of peace negotiations with Israel? You can’t. And why wouldn’t Palestinians seek peace? It’s not like Palestinians possess a navy, air force, or an army. It’s not like the Palestinian liberation cause is backed by a major military superpower, and it’s not like Palestine occupies Israel. The Palestinian Authority urged the United States to kick-start multilateral peace talks as recently as November 2015.
“Netanyahu wants to convince Obama and the world that the issue is Palestinian hatred of Israel,” said Husam Zomlot, a senior aide to PA president Mahmoud Abbas. “Palestinians, like all others, hate injustice, occupation and decades-long denial of their basic rights.” The Palestinian request was denied by Israeli Prime Minister and ignored by the US. The wave of recent Palestinian violence is underwritten by a post-Oslo generation that justifiably sees no hope in the peace process.
Three decades of US brokered “peace talks” have done nothing to not only create an autonomous and contiguous Palestinian state, but also have done nothing to put a halt to Israel’s occupation and colonisation of the Palestinian territories. Since Oslo, the number of Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has increased from 250,000 to 750,000. Clearly, it’s the Israelis who reject peace, not the Palestinians. A new Pew poll found that nearly 50 percent of Israelis believe Arabs should be expelled from Israel, which, by some definitions, means nearly half of Jewish Israelis support ethnic cleansing.
In 2008, another poll found that 64 percent of Jews expressed high levels of hatred toward Palestinians, bearing in mind this poll was taken three years after the end of the Second Intifada, and three years without a terrorist attack.
Pushed ever further right by a growing and more politically active settler demographic, the Israeli government speaks increasingly in a language that is hostile towards peace. Netanyahu has said that a two-state solution will never happen on his watch. Naftali Bennett, Israel’s education minister, has said the time has come for Israel to officially “annex the West Bank”, and Israel’s justice minister has called for a genocide on the Palestinians.
Padraig O’Malley, who helped negotiate a peace in Northern Ireland and authored The Two State Delusion, notes that Israel’s changing demographics suggest “a coming Israel will be a more anti-Palestinian Israeli, with a disturbing propensity to express expressions of hatred; more ultra-nationalistic; more suspicious of the Arab world, more right wing; less committed to democratic values; less tolerant and will have little trust in most institutions other than the defense forces.”
Following the failed Camp David talks, Yossi Ginossar, a member of the Israeli delegation and former Shin Bet official, said Israelis are unable to think about a peaceful resolution to the conflict because Israel society has so effectively dehumanised the Palestinians. “I have believed that until Israelis humanise Palestinians as a society and as individuals, and thus also rationalise the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the conflict will not be ripe for the conclusion of any peace agreement. [Our governments have] failed to humanise Palestinian society in the eyes of the Israeli public and make Israelis see Palestinians as normal society…
As a society we must learn to treat Palestinians as human beings who have the same authenticity that we ascribe to ourselves… I believe we are not yet ready to do so,” remarked Ginossar. An easy to way to determine which side genuinely seeks peace is to ask which side benefits from maintaining the status quo, and it doesn't take a high level of sophisticated enquiry to know 1.8 million Palestinians do not benefit, economically or socially, by being imprisoned in Gaza’s cage, nor do the nearly 2 million Palestinians living behind the West Bank’s apartheid barrier.
In Israel’s mind, peace talks are a threat to the status quo, for peace talks bring into question Israel’s commitment to peace, and no Israeli government has shown a willingness to end either the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, or the blockade of Gaza. And while Americans continue to believe the lies GOP presidential candidates tell about both the Palestinians and the nature of the conflict, there will never be enough political pressure on a US president to act as an honest broker for peace.
- CJ Werleman is the author of several books. His article was published in the Middle East Eye website.
While there hasn’t been a single question about US support for Israel in any of the dozen or so Democratic presidential debates, the Israel-Palestinian conflict has returned to centre stage on the Republican side of the 2016 presidential race. The reason the conflict has again become relevant to US conservatives, consuming as much time as other any topic during any of the past few GOP debates, is Donald Trump promised to be a “neutral” broker for peace.
Trump’s promise has given his GOP presidential rivals an opportunity to attack him from the right, which means Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich have dusted off their very best Israel Lobby generated talking points. Chief among them is the one that posits all Palestinians as maniacal suicide-bombers in waiting. “The notion of neutrality is based upon the Left buying into this moral relativism that is often pitched in the media.
Listen, it is not equivalent. When you have terrorists strapping dynamite around their chests, exploding and murdering innocent women and children, they are not equivalent to the IDF officers protecting Israel. And I will not pretend that they are,” thundered Trump’s nearest rival Cruz. In mainstream US political discourse, Palestinians are presented as blood-lustful Jew killers, living alongside an Israeli state that is portrayed as a “Fort Apache,” surrounded by indigenous savages who don’t want peace.
“The Palestinian Authority has walked away from multiple efforts to make peace - very generous offers from the Israelis,” Rubio asserted. "Instead, here's what the Palestinians do: They teach their four-year-old children that killing Jews is a glorious thing.
Here's what Hamas does: They launch rockets and terrorist attacks against Israel on an ongoing basis.” Thus the pro-Israel one-two punch: Palestinians are “bloodthirsty desperados” and wish for conflict over peace. “The bottom line is, a deal between Israel and the Palestinians - given the current makeup of the Palestinians - is not possible,” says Rubio.
This Israeli narrative is often wrapped up with the failed 2000 Camp David peace talks, which falsely accuses Yasser Arafat of walking away from a deal that offered Palestinians 90 percent of what they want. “It is a terrible myth that Arafat and only Arafat caused this catastrophic failure. All three parties made mistakes, and in such complex negotiations everyone is bound to…No one is to blame,” a US special envoy to Jerusalem told The New York Times. Even Israel’s lead negotiator, Shlomo Ben-Ami, remarked, “Camp David was not the missed opportunity for the Palestinians, and if I were a Palestinian I would have rejected Camp David as well.”
If Palestinians don’t wish for peace, explain how polls show two-thirds of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are in favour of peace negotiations with Israel? You can’t. And why wouldn’t Palestinians seek peace? It’s not like Palestinians possess a navy, air force, or an army. It’s not like the Palestinian liberation cause is backed by a major military superpower, and it’s not like Palestine occupies Israel. The Palestinian Authority urged the United States to kick-start multilateral peace talks as recently as November 2015.
“Netanyahu wants to convince Obama and the world that the issue is Palestinian hatred of Israel,” said Husam Zomlot, a senior aide to PA president Mahmoud Abbas. “Palestinians, like all others, hate injustice, occupation and decades-long denial of their basic rights.” The Palestinian request was denied by Israeli Prime Minister and ignored by the US. The wave of recent Palestinian violence is underwritten by a post-Oslo generation that justifiably sees no hope in the peace process.
Three decades of US brokered “peace talks” have done nothing to not only create an autonomous and contiguous Palestinian state, but also have done nothing to put a halt to Israel’s occupation and colonisation of the Palestinian territories. Since Oslo, the number of Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has increased from 250,000 to 750,000. Clearly, it’s the Israelis who reject peace, not the Palestinians. A new Pew poll found that nearly 50 percent of Israelis believe Arabs should be expelled from Israel, which, by some definitions, means nearly half of Jewish Israelis support ethnic cleansing.
In 2008, another poll found that 64 percent of Jews expressed high levels of hatred toward Palestinians, bearing in mind this poll was taken three years after the end of the Second Intifada, and three years without a terrorist attack.
Pushed ever further right by a growing and more politically active settler demographic, the Israeli government speaks increasingly in a language that is hostile towards peace. Netanyahu has said that a two-state solution will never happen on his watch. Naftali Bennett, Israel’s education minister, has said the time has come for Israel to officially “annex the West Bank”, and Israel’s justice minister has called for a genocide on the Palestinians.
Padraig O’Malley, who helped negotiate a peace in Northern Ireland and authored The Two State Delusion, notes that Israel’s changing demographics suggest “a coming Israel will be a more anti-Palestinian Israeli, with a disturbing propensity to express expressions of hatred; more ultra-nationalistic; more suspicious of the Arab world, more right wing; less committed to democratic values; less tolerant and will have little trust in most institutions other than the defense forces.”
Following the failed Camp David talks, Yossi Ginossar, a member of the Israeli delegation and former Shin Bet official, said Israelis are unable to think about a peaceful resolution to the conflict because Israel society has so effectively dehumanised the Palestinians. “I have believed that until Israelis humanise Palestinians as a society and as individuals, and thus also rationalise the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the conflict will not be ripe for the conclusion of any peace agreement. [Our governments have] failed to humanise Palestinian society in the eyes of the Israeli public and make Israelis see Palestinians as normal society…
As a society we must learn to treat Palestinians as human beings who have the same authenticity that we ascribe to ourselves… I believe we are not yet ready to do so,” remarked Ginossar. An easy to way to determine which side genuinely seeks peace is to ask which side benefits from maintaining the status quo, and it doesn't take a high level of sophisticated enquiry to know 1.8 million Palestinians do not benefit, economically or socially, by being imprisoned in Gaza’s cage, nor do the nearly 2 million Palestinians living behind the West Bank’s apartheid barrier.
In Israel’s mind, peace talks are a threat to the status quo, for peace talks bring into question Israel’s commitment to peace, and no Israeli government has shown a willingness to end either the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, or the blockade of Gaza. And while Americans continue to believe the lies GOP presidential candidates tell about both the Palestinians and the nature of the conflict, there will never be enough political pressure on a US president to act as an honest broker for peace.
- CJ Werleman is the author of several books. His article was published in the Middle East Eye website.
But with the exception of one passing mention of Israel's settlements, the presidential candidate made no mention of the key Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territory the Obama administration has repeatedly condemned in recent months.
Taking US-Israel alliance 'to next level'
Since December, US Secretary of State John Kerry, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, and US State Department spokesperson John Kirby have all issued grave condemnations of Israeli policies, saying they were undermining the two-state solution and prospects for peace.
However, Clinton called for the US and Israel to take their alliance "to the next level," expressing hope that an agreement would be reached soon on the next 10 years' worth of US military assistance to Israel, which already totals $3 billion a year.
"We will never allow Israel’s adversaries to think a wedge can be driven between us," Clinton said.
She drew attention to what she said was the "alarming" BDS movement, suggesting it was "anti-Semitic" and part of efforts to "malign, isolate, and undermine Israel and the Jewish people."
"I’ve been sounding the alarm for a while now," the presidential hopeful said. "We have to be united in fighting back against BDS."
She added: "To all the college students who may have encountered this on campus, I hope you stay strong. Keep speaking out. Don't let anyone silence you, bully you or try to shut down debate."
She said of Israel's conflict with the Palestinians: "We can't be neutral when rockets rain down on residential neighborhoods, when civilians are stabbed in the street, when suicide bombers target the innocent. Some things aren't negotiable."
Speaking of other threats faced by Israel, Clinton also sharply criticized Iran, saying that while the recent nuclear deal in part brokered by the Obama administration may have resulted in a safer world, "it's not good enough to trust and verify. Our approach must be distrust and verify."
She said: "Tehran's fingerprints are on nearly every conflict across the Middle East, from Syria to Lebanon to Yemen." She alleged that Iran was also funding "Palestinian terrorists."
Clinton concluded by expressing hope that Israel and the US would stay true to the "shared democratic values that have always been at the heart of our relationship."
She said both nations were "built on principles of equality, tolerance and pluralism. At our best, both Israel and America are seen as a light unto the nations because of those values."
Taking US-Israel alliance 'to next level'
Since December, US Secretary of State John Kerry, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, and US State Department spokesperson John Kirby have all issued grave condemnations of Israeli policies, saying they were undermining the two-state solution and prospects for peace.
However, Clinton called for the US and Israel to take their alliance "to the next level," expressing hope that an agreement would be reached soon on the next 10 years' worth of US military assistance to Israel, which already totals $3 billion a year.
"We will never allow Israel’s adversaries to think a wedge can be driven between us," Clinton said.
She drew attention to what she said was the "alarming" BDS movement, suggesting it was "anti-Semitic" and part of efforts to "malign, isolate, and undermine Israel and the Jewish people."
"I’ve been sounding the alarm for a while now," the presidential hopeful said. "We have to be united in fighting back against BDS."
She added: "To all the college students who may have encountered this on campus, I hope you stay strong. Keep speaking out. Don't let anyone silence you, bully you or try to shut down debate."
She said of Israel's conflict with the Palestinians: "We can't be neutral when rockets rain down on residential neighborhoods, when civilians are stabbed in the street, when suicide bombers target the innocent. Some things aren't negotiable."
Speaking of other threats faced by Israel, Clinton also sharply criticized Iran, saying that while the recent nuclear deal in part brokered by the Obama administration may have resulted in a safer world, "it's not good enough to trust and verify. Our approach must be distrust and verify."
She said: "Tehran's fingerprints are on nearly every conflict across the Middle East, from Syria to Lebanon to Yemen." She alleged that Iran was also funding "Palestinian terrorists."
Clinton concluded by expressing hope that Israel and the US would stay true to the "shared democratic values that have always been at the heart of our relationship."
She said both nations were "built on principles of equality, tolerance and pluralism. At our best, both Israel and America are seen as a light unto the nations because of those values."
Israeli extremist settlers headed by fanatic rabbi Yehuda Glick stormed on early Monday morning Muslims’ the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, in Occupied Jerusalem, under a tight security shield.
Eyewitnesses said Glick and a horde of extremist settlers broke into the Mosque at 7.30 a.m. via the Maghareba Gate and defiled its plazas.
Israeli occupation police and rapid intervention troops escorted the Israeli fanatics all the way through the assault. The Israeli occupation troops cracked down on the peaceful Muslim worshipers who kept chanting “Allah is the Greatest” in protest at the break-in.
Israeli sacrilegious break-ins at al-Aqsa —the third holiest site in Islam— have fanned the flames of the ongoing anti-occupation intifada, which started in early October.
Eyewitnesses said Glick and a horde of extremist settlers broke into the Mosque at 7.30 a.m. via the Maghareba Gate and defiled its plazas.
Israeli occupation police and rapid intervention troops escorted the Israeli fanatics all the way through the assault. The Israeli occupation troops cracked down on the peaceful Muslim worshipers who kept chanting “Allah is the Greatest” in protest at the break-in.
Israeli sacrilegious break-ins at al-Aqsa —the third holiest site in Islam— have fanned the flames of the ongoing anti-occupation intifada, which started in early October.
Palestinians in Beit Fujjar town in southern Bethlehem Sunday evening bade farewell to both martyrs Ali Thawabteh, 19 and Ali Taqatqa, 20.
Both Palestinian martyrs were killed by Israeli forces last Thursday near Ariel settlement after alleged stabbing attempt. Israeli forces delivered the bodies of martyrs to their families after three days of detention.
Israeli soldiers intensified their siege on Beit Fujjar town, which has been imposed since Thursday night, and barred the inhabitants from heading to hospital for receiving the bodies of martyrs.
The town of Beit Fujjar sacrificed five martyrs during Jerusalem Intifada which broke out last October, including an infant who died due to breathing tear gas which was unleashed directly by Israeli soldiers towards his family home.
Both Palestinian martyrs were killed by Israeli forces last Thursday near Ariel settlement after alleged stabbing attempt. Israeli forces delivered the bodies of martyrs to their families after three days of detention.
Israeli soldiers intensified their siege on Beit Fujjar town, which has been imposed since Thursday night, and barred the inhabitants from heading to hospital for receiving the bodies of martyrs.
The town of Beit Fujjar sacrificed five martyrs during Jerusalem Intifada which broke out last October, including an infant who died due to breathing tear gas which was unleashed directly by Israeli soldiers towards his family home.