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🔸 New or Recently Updated
Ahed Tamimi
Her projection into the spotlight and eventually iconic status began in December 2017 with a protest in her West Bank village, one of many she had joined. This time was different: 17-year-old Ahed saw her cousin shot in the head by an Israeli soldier.About 30 minutes later, in a confrontation on her family's property, she lashed out at another soldier by slapping him, which was caught on video. For this "slap heard round the world," Ahed was arrested and eventually sentenced to 8 months in prison. She remained strong and defiant during all her ordeal of interrogations, court appearances, and prison term. And she became a symbol of Palestinian resistance that the world embraced, like none before her. Her case also brought much needed attention to the systemic abuse of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention.
READ MORE
NBC News: Slap heard 'round the world: Ahed Tamimi becomes symbol of Palestinian resistance +972 Magazine (Israel): Months after shattering his skull, IDF arrests teen in predawn raid The Nation:Ahed Tamimi Has Become the Symbol of a New Generation of Palestinian Resistance Haaretz (Israel): EU 'Deeply Concerned' Over Israel's Arrest of Palestinian Minors in Wake of Ahed Tamimi Detention
Natalie Portman
The movie star of such film hits as Black Swan and the Star Wars prequel trilogy, who is an Israeli citizen, refused to accept the prestigious Genesis Award, sometimes referred to as the "Israeli Nobel Prize." Her reason? She is deeply critical of the policies of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who would be present at the award ceremony, and she did not want to appear to endorse him in any way. For that, she was both accused of and praised for supporting the global BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, by "boycotting" the award. Natalie said she definitely does not support BDS, but her denial left quite a few unconvinced, on both sides of the aisle. BDS or not, she has joined the growing list of celebrities turning their own spotlights on Israeli oppression.
READ MORE
NY Times: Natalie Portman Backs Out of Israeli Award Ceremony Forward: Natalie Portman Says 'Jewish Values' Caused Her To Scrap Israel Visit For Genesis Prize The Progressive:Foreign Correspondent: Natalie Portman Boycotts Israeli Prize; Right Wing Goes Ballistic Haaretz (Israel): That's the Spirit, Ms. Portman, but It's Just a Start Forward: Actually, Natalie Portman, You ARE Practicing BDS
UMKR Newsletter
News & Analysis UMKR News & Alerts
PEOPLE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Angela Davis
This lifelong activist and author was selected in October 2018 to receive a Human Rights Award by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) in Alabama, to be presented at a gala in February 2019. Some Jewish organizations and leaders expressed their dismay at her selection, due to her outspoken support for the Palestinian cause and the BDS movement.
Caving to pressure immediately, the BCRI rescinded the award and cancelled the gala, not expecting the much greater backlash their reversal would unleash. In the midst of a firestorm of media coverage, the three top officers of the BCRI resigned, Birmingham city leaders apologized for the insult to Davis, and a coalition of groups organized an alternative event in Birmingham to honor Davis. Jewish Voice for Peace organized the statement "We will not be bullied into silence," in which hundreds of scholars and Civil Rights leaders expressed their public support and admiration for Davis. Subsequently, the BCRI apologized to Angela Davis and reinstated her as the recipient of their human rights award.
In an interview about these events on Democracy Now, Davis said: "I have never concealed my support for the boycott, divestment, sanctions movement… efforts by Palestinian civil society to take measures that are in the spirit of the civil rights movement… I have been a supporter of justice for Palestine almost as long as I can remember."
READ MORE
The Nation:The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute's Insult to Angela Davis Has Boomeranged Mondoweiss: 'We will not be bullied into silence': Over 350 scholars, Civil Rights veterans speak out Electronic Intifada: Angela Davis is latest Black target of Israel lobby Birmingham Business Journal: BCRI reverses course, will present award to Angela Davis Democracy Now: Angela Davis Speaks Out on Palestine, BDS & More After Civil Rights Award Is Revoked
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Download 2018 Review: Part One –
Download 2018 Review: Part Two –
The Big Stories of 2018
________________________
Read these sections of
Part Two on our website:
• The Top Stories
• People in the Spotlight
• Events IN Israel/Palestine
• U.S. Scene: Anti-Zionism, Anti-Semitism
• U.S. Scene: More from Trump Admin
• U.S. Scene: On Campus
• U.S. Scene: Legislation- State, Federal
• U.S. Scene: Changes on the Horizon
• Around the World
• Successes: BDS & More
• Last, But Not Least
• For Information Junkies
Marc Lamont Hill
This professor and news commentator was invited to address a United Nations body in November 2018. As described in the +972 article, A Masterclass in Palestine Solidarity, "Hill delivered a powerful articulation of the Palestinian struggle and how he, as a Black American, identifies with their cause....saying that true solidarity "must allow the Palestinian people the same range of opportunity and political possibility."" Hill closed his 21-minute statement with a call for "what justice requires, and that is a free Palestine from the river to the sea."
That final sentence unleashed a tsunami of outrage, with claims he was calling for the destruction of Israel, because Israel is located between the (Jordan) River and the (Mediterranean) Sea. Hill then explained that he was referring to a one-state solution, whereby all the people living in Israel and Palestine would enjoy freedom and equality together. But that would not soothe the wrath of his attackers, and great pressure was brought to bear on his two primary employers, CNN and Temple University.
CNN promptly fired Hill, without stating why they did so, but no one really doubted the cause. As the prominent Israeli columnist Gideon Levy observed of this debacle: "In U.S. Media, Israel is Untouchable." Statements of protest came from prominent figures over this offensive muzzling of a respected African American scholar and political commentator, but campaigns for his reinstatement at CNN were unsuccessful. The President and Board of Trustees at Temple University eventually confirmed that Hill would not be fired, while they also publicly condemned him.
READ MORE
The Intercept: CNN Submits to Right-Wing Outrage Mob Huffington Post: CNN Fired Marc Lamont Hill For Saying Palestinians Deserve Equal Rights The Nation:The Harsh and Unjust Punishment of Marc Lamont Hill +972 Magazine: A Masterclass in Palestine solidarity Palestine Legal: Temple Agrees Marc Lamont Hill Protected, But Still Condemns His Speech Mondoweiss: 'From the river to the sea' is just fine so long as it's Israel's sovereignty
ABOUT OUR NEWS SOURCES
The articles we include in our lists to 'Read More' – in our newsletters and on our website – are provided as an informational service for our readers, and the views expressed may or may not be shared by UMKR.
Some selections may be repetitive;because some periodicals have paywalls, we provide a variety of sources in the hope that every reader will find some of them accessible, with or without a subscription.
For News & Alerts