Gaza War Was Genocide: Chavez

Palestine condemns move

(NEWSER) - In a move sure to ratchet up Israeli-Palestinian tension even further, Israel gave the OK today to construct 1,100 new housing units in east Jerusalem. Israel’s Interior Ministry says construction can begin after 60 days, a period that is mandatory for comments from the public but largely a formality, the AP reports. While the Palestinians say east Jerusalem is their future capital, and have called for a halt to all settlement construction there, Israel says the area is a part of its own capital, an undivided Jerusalem. More»

Triumphant president returns home

(AP) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has received a hero's welcome in the West Bank, triumphantly telling his people the "Palestinian Spring" has begun following his historic speech to the UN last week. Abbas asked the world body on Friday to recognize Palestinian independence, defying appeals from Israel and the United States to return to peace talks. More»

Mahmoud Abbas would submit a letter, but not force a vote

(NEWSER) - The international community is hammering out a deal that would spare the US from having to veto Palestine’s move for statehood . There are several ideas floating about, but all revolve around the premise that Mahmoud Abbas would deliver a letter to the Security Council requesting statehood, but would not actually force a vote, US, European, Israeli and Palestinian diplomats tell CNN . “We don’t need to see a vote right away,” one Palestinian diplomat said. More»

If Palestinians wait much longer, it will be too late: Reza Aslan

(NEWSER) - Palestinians plan to push for full statehood in the UN later this month, and the US vows to block them. Reza Aslan offers five reasons in the Los Angeles Times why America should buck Israel ("it is not political suicide") and change its mind:

• Failed talks: Twenty years of negotiations toward a Palestinian state have gone nowhere, even as the number of Israelis in the West Bank has tripled in that time to 300,000. "A few more years and practically nothing will remain."

Egypt brokers deal to stop escalating violence

(AP) - Gaza militants agreed to a cease-fire with Israel to stop spiking violence, a Hamas official said today, after a deadly attack across the Egyptian border on Israeli vehicles set off a three-day round of rapidly escalating Israeli airstrikes and rocket barrages from Gaza. The sudden flareup also threatened Israel-Egypt relations, after three Egyptian police were killed as the cross-border clash developed Thursday. Egypt complained strongly as thousands demonstrated in Cairo, and Israel apologized. More»