News Highlights:
- April 18th, Israel issues tenders for 50 new settler units in the occupied West Bank.
- Ariel Sharon says he may delay Gaza “disengagement” by three weeks.
- April 17th – Palestinians mark national Prisoners Day and thousands protest, calling for the release of the over 7000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails; the prisoners launch a two-day hunger strike to highlight the intolerable conditions inside the jails.
- British lecturers considering an academic boycott of Israel and several of its universities to protest Israeli policies against Palestinians.
- Palestinian academics respond to some of the Israeli left who do not support the call for a boycott, saying Israeli academics serve in the occupation army and rarely challenge Israeli policies.
Feature:
An interview with Ali Abunimah, a co-founder of Electronic Intifada from Chicago, about the U.S. global empire, and how attempts to reactivate the Middle East “peace process” fit into U.S. and Israeli plans.
Focus on Zionism:
Excerpts of an April 18th op-ed in the Jordan Times about how Caterpillar shareholders voted down the resolution to investigate the use of its bulldozers by the Israeli army to demolish Palestinian homes