Just as nobody seriously believes that Israel upholds Palestinians' basic human rights, it should come as no surprise when it fails to bring to justice those who violate those rights — even if the victim is an American citizen. I had to rub my eyes and reread the headline in Haaretz this morning: "Cop Who Beat Up Palestinian Teen Gets Six Weeks Community Service." I must have misread. Not six weeks jail time? Or at least six months community service? No. Just six weeks (45 days) of community service for a policeman who repeatedly and brutally punched and kicked 15-year-old…

Israel has detained over 7,000 Palestinian children over the past 12 years. Many of them report beatings, abuse and a denial of rights by security forces. It's time to put things in the wider context. The detention and abuse of Palestinian children by Israeli security forces has, for a change, been all over the international news media. Unfortunately, it took the severe beating of a 15-year-old boy who happens to have American citizenship for that to happen. Tariq Abu Khdeir was beaten by Israeli Border Police officers in Shuafat last week, during a protest against the brutal killing of of his…

The right-wing Israel crowd is on a mission to delegitimize every Palestinian activity that goes beyond silent submission to permanent foreign military rule. Post-modern madness has Israelis very excited, for years now, about the notion that if Israel just “explains” its side of the matter, the world will come to its senses. There is a deep and pervasive myth that Israel is hopelessly incompetent at communications. Israelis speak of Palestinian propaganda as a well-oiled machine, with tentacles in every news media, lobby groups in the halls of power and pressure groups controlling the minds of students and faculty in universities…

Details of the police investigation into the kidnapping and murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir have been held under gag order. Six suspects identified as "Jewish extremists" were arrested in connection to the heinous murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, police revealed as details began emerging about the investigation Sunday morning. All details about the investigation have been kept under gag order since the 16 year old was kidnapped and burned alive, an incident that sparked clashes and riots in Shuafat that spread to other parts of Israel in recent days. It is important to point out that following the kidnapping/murder of the…

Jewish motorists are pulled from their vehicles; Liberman exploits nationalist tensions; victim of East Jerusalem police beating is an American teenager; settlers make new land grab, set up new West Bank outpost. Clashes continued throughout the night in East Jerusalem following the funeral of Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir on Friday, who was kidnapped and reportedly burned alive earlier this week. The violence also spread to various areas of Israel and the West Bank, including attacks on Jewish Israeli motorists. Protesters in Qalansawe, a Palestinian town in the Triangle on Israel’s coastal plain, attacked Jewish motorists. The protesters reportedly began checking drivers’…