| | Anglican Hospital in Gaza Draws on Global Support for Healing Ministry in Aftermath of Fighting A look at the continuing aftermath of violence, a changing government, and more news in this week’s bulletin. Image: Palestinians are seen June 1 outside their homes, heavily damaged during recent Israeli strikes, in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip, more than a week after a ceasefire brought an end to 11 days of hostilities between Israel and Gaza rulers Hamas. (NurPhoto via AP) | | | |  | Image: Palestinians are seen June 1 outside their homes, heavily damaged during recent Israeli strikes, in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip, more than a week after a ceasefire brought an end to 11 days of hostilities between Israel and Gaza rulers Hamas. (NurPhoto via AP) | | | Anglican hospital in Gaza draws on global support for healing ministry in aftermath of fighting
Episcopal News Service “Tensions over the evictions of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem boiled over last month into 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Before agreeing to a May 21 ceasefire, Hamas fired rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israeli cities, while Israel launched airstrikes that leveled buildings in Gaza. Those attacks, along with clashes in Jerusalem between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police, reportedly left at least 260 Palestinians and 12 Israelis dead and hundreds more injured. One constant before, during and after the turmoil has been the ministry of Al Ahli Arab Hospital, a Diocese of Jerusalem facility in Gaza City that saw a surge in patients while sustaining minor damage during the Israeli airstrikes." | | | | | | | |  | Image: Israeli activists protest against the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes to make way for Jewish settlers in the annexed East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, 28 May 2021 (AFP) | | | Israel-Palestine: Sheikh Jarrah expulsions likely after attorney general declines to intervene
Middle East Eye “The forced displacement of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood looks likely to go ahead after the Israeli attorney general said he would not be intervening in the issue. Avichai Mandelblit informed Israel's Supreme Court on Monday (June 7) that he would not get involved, with officials in his office saying the case of the Palestinian families was too weak and that his legal opinion would be unable to prevent them from being removed. The Supreme Court had last month ordered Mandelbit to submit his legal opinion on the threatened evictions, with the State Prosecutor's Office asking the court to delay its decision until Mandelblit had announced his position, with an 8 June deadline.” | | | | | | | |  | Image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks on his cellphone during a special session of the Knesset on Wednesday. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool/AP) | | | The era of Netanyahu is over — or is it?
Washington Post “For more than a quarter of a century, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has loomed over his nation’s politics. He spent much of that time as premier, including a spell that stretched over the past 12 years and made him the country’s longest-serving ruler. A wily operator and strident nationalist, he bent Israeli politics around his quest to remain in power. Netanyahu plunged Israel through four election cycles during the past two years as his allies and opponents failed to establish a stable ruling government.” | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | Join Us for a Denominational Tours of the Holy Land: In conjunction with our trip partner MEJDI Tours, CMEP is hosting three different virtual denominational tours at the end of June: the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem tour, a Catholic tour, and a Greek Orthodox tour. Each tour will visit key sites sacred to each faith tradition. This is a wonderful opportunity to support the local economy in Israel/Palestine, which has been devastated by Covid-19. | | | | |  | CMEP in the News: We’ve been actively working to put CMEP’s message of peace and justice into the world and the last few weeks our work has been featured in multiple publications. Check out where CMEP’s work is appearing. | | | | |  | Public Statement: CMEP Joins Over 100 National Organizations Calling on President Biden to Halt New Weapons Sales to Israel: In opposition to the U.S. government’s plans to sell $735 million in advanced weapons systems and munitions to Israel. The planned arms sales to Israel would send a signal of support for Israel’s recent conduct in occupied Gaza and East Jerusalem, which includes likely violations of international humanitarian law | | | | | | Donate Please donate and share in your networks to support CMEP's work. | | | | | | | | | |  | Image: People protested in New York and other US cities in support of Palestinians following a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence in May. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters) | | | Groups urge Biden to halt $735m weapons sale to Israel
Al Jazeera “Peace advocates and pro-Palestinian groups in the United States are calling on President Joe Biden to halt a $735m sale of precision-guided bombs to Israel that the Biden administration has fast-tracked. ‘We are knowingly transferring weapons to a country that is not only engaged in aggression but also a massive violation of human rights,’ said Huwaida Arraf, co-chair of the Palestine subcommittee of the National Lawyers Guild and organiser for Palestinian rights in the US.” | | | | | | | |  | Image: US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz at the Pentagon in Washington, on 3 June 2021 (AFP/Saul Loeb) | | | US promises 'ironclad' support for whoever leads Israel
Middle East Eye “The United States said on Thursday (June 3) that its ‘ironclad’ support would remain in place for whoever leads Israel, with a coalition of opposition parties from across the political spectrum seeking to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after more than a decade in power. A group of eight parties, including some unlikely political allies, such as the United Arab List (UAL) and Yisrael Beiteinu, reached an agreement on Wednesday to form a new coalition government. Under the agreement, the head of the right-wing Yamina party, Naftali Bennett, who has said he has no problem with killing Arabs and has urged the bombing of Gaza, would serve as prime minister for two years before handing the position over to Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party.” | | | | | | | |  | Image: Smoke billows from an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in the southern Gaza strip on May 18. (Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images) | | | Letters to the Editor: Gun reform, the filibuster and Middle East peace
Delaware Online “Delaware Churches for Middle East Peace joins with all who condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia, whether overt or covert. That both are on the increase in our country and around the world is an affront to the Biblical tenant that all have been created in the image of God. To deny that to another, is to betray it in oneself. Abusive language and violent behavior against Jews and Muslims must not be rationalized away. They are unacceptable and need to be identified for what they are, corruptive, cancerous-like acts that eat away at our common humanity.” | | | | | | | | 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)
110 Maryland Ave NE, Suite 311 | Washington, District of Columbia 20002
(202) 543-1222 | info@cmep.org | | | | | | | | | |
