Reports and Commentary

Harriet Sherwood: US secretary of state John Kerry arrives in the Holy Land this week on his fourth visit in two months amid deepening skepticism on all sides about his chances of breathing life back into the moribund peace process, and an acknowledgement by European diplomats that there is no "Plan B" in place in the event of its failure.

Alistair Dawber: One of the most evocative and shocking episodes of the second Intifada, the shooting of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy by the Israeli army, was staged. Indeed, Mohammed al-Durrah was not even injured in the incident. Those, at least, are the findings of an investigation by the Israeli government, published today, which has described the case as a “blood libel on the state of Israel”.

Isabel Kershner and Fares Akram: Israel said Tuesday that it would permit Palestinians to fish up to six nautical miles off the Gaza coast, canceling the limit of three nautical miles that was imposed after Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in March.

Moe Ali Nayel: “Are you enjoying filming our misery? Film: it’s fine, you are like the others. You show up in the camp, film, leave, and we are still here.” I used to reply: but we want to tell the world about your story. Always, with the same sarcasm, is the reply: “how much are you getting paid to tell the world our story?”

Yazan al-Saadi: Currently, nearly all Arab governments are willing to normalize relations with the Zionist state, despite a lack of support from domestic populations that remain committed to resistance. Some Arab states, such as Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar, have formally normalized relations with Israel through treaties that have been in effect for decades.

Adalah: On Nakba Day, 15 May 2013, Palestinians marked the passing of sixty-five years since the massive forced expulsion of Palestinians from their national homeland. The Nakba commemorations demand reflection not only on the “catastrophe” of the loss of life, land, and property in 1948, but also on Israeli policies that are still dispossessing Palestinians of their land today, sixty-five years later.

Joseph Massad: It is Israel's claims that it represents and speaks for all Jews that are the most anti-Semitic claims of all.

Asa Winstanly: Two confidential Anti-Defamation League memos from the 1970s show that the pro-Israel “civil rights” group sent spies to report on talks by Noam Chomsky, a noted critic of Israel.

Noam Sheizaf: In an interview with the ‘New York Times,’ Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid rejects the idea of a settlement freeze or compromise on Jerusalem, instead offering an updated version of the Oslo Accord as an interim solution.

Annie Robbins: Lebanon's Arab Idol 2013 competition isn't over, but it's already made a star of 22-year-old finalist Mohammed Assaf, a Palestinian student from Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza, a sensation causing swooning hearts all across the Arab world with his renditions of love songs and patriotic Palestinian songs.

When the esteemed physicist Stephen Hawking announced his decision to boycott Israel’s Presidential Conference, a gathering of politicians, scholars, and other high-profile figures scheduled for June, the response was as predictable as the movement of the cosmos that inspired Hawking’s career.

With the onset of occupation in 1967, Israeli authorities began to pursue a policy of physical, political and economic segregation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), which continues apace today.

David Kenner: In an exclusive conversation with Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas chief talks about how Assad should have listened to his advice, and why he’s not “bloodthirsty” or “against” Jews.

Susan Abulhawa: One can cite endless examples of Israeli appropriation of everything Palestinian – land and home, heritage and culture, hummus and couscous, narrative and history. Now, we see an example of appropriation even of our deepest collective wound. When and how did the Nakba become the purview of Israelis?

Several Palestinians were injured by tear gas on Tuesday during a rally marking Nakba Day, which kicked off from Bethlehem's Duheisha refugee camp.

Philip Weiss: This shocking story, of yet another "huge humiliation" of a non-Jew at Ben Gurion airport, was posted by Mira Awad, an Israeli Palestinian singer, on her Facebook page, in Hebrew, today. Ami Kaufman at +972 provided a translation of the entry, and notes that Awad is a celebrity in Israel.

Noam Sheizaf: The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories has clarified that the “forbidden” buffer zone in Gaza strip stretches 300 meters from the fence (the Israeli border), and not 100 meters as it previously announced. Civilians who enter the area risk being shot by the army.

Adam Horowitz: Last week we reported Israel supporters were pressuring the Newseum to drop two Palestinian journalists, Mahmoud al-Kumi and Hussam Salama, from its yearly event honoring reporters killed in the line of duty. Al-Kumi and Salama worked for Al-Aqsa television and were killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza last November.

Rosemary Sayigh: Tragedy and resistance have been linked to Palestinians’ history since the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and it is no surprise that there is an organic relationship between the current Arab uprisings and Palestinian resistance. Yet the Arab uprisings have exploded the post-1948 framework of existence of those Palestinians who live in the Arab world as refugees.

Israeli minister of defense Moshe Yaalon has given orders to suspend construction of a new Palestinian city in the Jordan Valley after settlers protested an earlier decision to pass lands in Area C to the Palestinian Authority.