| | CMEP Weekly Bulletin: 11 Palestinians Killed During Israeli Raid Targeting Militants in West Bank A look at escalating violence, home demolition, and more news in this week’s bulletin. CMEP’s Bulletin is a weekly round-up of news from the Middle East and represents an array of perspectives on the issues we cover. CMEP does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in the articles, and they do not speak on CMEP’s behalf. | | | |  | Image: Palestinians clash with Israeli forces amid a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, on February 22, 2023. (Zain Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images) | | | 11 Palestinians killed during Israeli raid targeting militants in West Bank CNN “At least 11 Palestinians were killed Wednesday (February 22) during a rare daytime raid by Israeli military forces in the occupied West Bank that also left more than 100 injured, Palestinian officials said in the aftermath of an operation described by the local director of Red Crescent as a ‘massacre’.” | | | | | |  | Image: Opposition leader Yair Lapid speaks in the Knesset plenum on February 22, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) | | | Knesset advances bill that would preemptively shield laws from judicial oversight Times of Israel “The Knesset on Wednesday (February 22) passed in its preliminary reading a bill that could almost completely end court oversight of legislation, by enabling parliament to legislate laws that are preemptively immune to judicial review with a simple majority of 61 of 120 MKs. The bill is a major part of the government’s effort to remove judicial checks on its powers as part of a radical reform of the country’s judiciary, and, critics say, its very system of governance.” | | | | | |  | Image: US State Department spokesperson Ned Price speaks during a news conference. (Reuters) | | | US 'extremely concerned' after Israeli raid of Nablus Jerusalem Post “US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said Wednesday that the US ‘is extremely concerned by the levels of violence in Israel and the West Bank,’ following the deadly IDF raid in Nablus on Wednesday (February 22). ‘Today in Nablus, at least 10 Palestinians, including both militants and civilian bystanders, were killed, and over 100 injured during an Israel Defense Forces counter-terrorism operation,’ he said in his daily press briefing.” | | | | | | | | | | | |  | Lent 2023: Realizing God's Perfect Peace: Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) is pleased to present this Lenten devotional series entitled “Realizing God’s Perfect Peace,” which is available for purchase for you or your church group. This devotional book contains spiritual practices and reflections written by our staff for Ash Wednesday, each Sunday of Lent, and each day of Holy Week. | | | | |  | Register Now! Join Churches for Middle East Peace for our first in person Advocacy Summit since 2019. On April 20 we will hear from keynote speakers and panelists from Israel/Palestine and the U.S. including Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, and Rev. Dr. Jack Sara. Participants will have the opportunity to take the stories they have heard and advocate on behalf of human rights in Israel and Palestine with their Congressional offices on Friday, April 21. We hope you will consider joining us for fellowship, learning, and the chance to raise your voice on Capitol Hill this April. Registration is now open! | | | | |  | Non-Violent Peacebuilding: Join Westminster Presbyterian Church (Delaware) and Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) on March 19th for a conversation about non-violent peacebuilding and advocacy related to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. You will hear from Michael Feigenbaum and Ismail Assad from Combatants for Peace about how they were compelled to break cycles of violence in Israeli and Palestinian society and work for collective peace and justice. Kyle Cristafalo from Churches for Middle East Peace will speak about the role the American church plays in advocating for a just peace in Israel/Palestine. | | | | | | | | | | | | Support CMEP: Please remember CMEP this Lenten season. | | | | | | | | | | | | New Public Statement from CMEP CMEP Condemns Increasing Violence and Calls on the United States and Israel to Address Core Issues of Settlements and State Violence | | | | | | | | | |  | Image: Destroyed buildings in Hatay, southern Turkey, after a new earthquake hit the region on Monday. (Getty Images) | | | Turkey earthquake: Deadly new tremor traps people under rubble
BBC “Rescuers are once again searching for people trapped under rubble in Turkey after another earthquake hit the country, killing at least six people. A 6.4 magnitude tremor struck near the city of Antakya near the border with Syria, where massive quakes devastated both countries on 6 February. The earlier quakes killed 44,000 people in Turkey and Syria with tens of thousands more left homeless. Buildings weakened by those tremors collapsed in both countries on Monday (February 20).” | | | | | |  | Image: Israeli security forces stand guard after Israeli police demolished structures in the Jabal Mukaber neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Feb. 13. (Ammar Awad/Reuters) | | | Jerusalem demolitions gain pace under Netanyahu, enraging Palestinians
Washington Post “Since 1967, an estimated 58,000 settler homes have been built in East Jerusalem compared with just 600 Palestinian dwellings, according to Daniel Seidman, an Israeli lawyer specializing in Jerusalem.Already in 2023, the rate of home and building demolitions is the highest in years, with 39 structures toppled just in the last month, according to data from the United Nation’s humanitarian agency.” | | | | | |  | Image: Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev attend a meeting of heads of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan October 11, 2019. (Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via Reuters) | | | Armenia, Azerbaijan highlight Nagorno-Karabakh schism in Munich standoff Reuters “The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan bickered over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on Saturday (February 18), highlighting their disparate positions and offering scant evidence that lasting peace was on the cards as they met in Munich. Tensions between the two ex-Soviet neighbours have escalated over a two-month blockade of the Lachin corridor, the only land route giving Armenia direct access to Nagorno-Karabakh.” | | | | | | | | | | | | CMEP's Bulletin is a weekly round-up of news from the Middle East and represents an array of perspectives on the issues we cover. CMEP does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in the articles, and they do not speak on CMEP's behalf. | | | | Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
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