US Set to Deliver $150M in Aid to Palestinians

Settlers get tear gas, stun grenades ahead of statehood debate

(NEWSER) - The Israeli military, expecting widespread confrontations in the West Bank as the United Nations debates recognizing a Palestinian state, is training Jewish settlers to repel protests. Settlement security chiefs are being given tear gas and stun grenades, and the military is mapping out firing zones around settlements, according to leaked documents obtained by Haaretz. More»

Israel would keep land for 40 to 99 years

(NEWSER) - Israel and the Unites States are secretly discussing a deal in which Israel would lease lands in East Jerusalem from a new Palestinian state for a period of 40 to 99 years, according to a report from Asharq al-Awsat, an Arabic language London paper, summarized in Haaretz . In exchange, Palestine would at last become an independent state. More»

Peaceful protests, boycott of Israeli products gain traction

(NEWSER) - Burnt out on both armed struggle and diplomacy, Palestinian leaders are looking to a third path: political resistance that seeks to be non-violent. The Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority's new strategy to try to end Israeli occupation includes unarmed protest marches, boycott campaigns against goods produced by Israeli settlers, and illegal tree-planting in off-limits West Bank areas, the New York Times reports. More»

PM Fayyad's economy- first approach a good model: Friedman

(NEWSER) - Things are bad in the Arab world, but Thomas Friedman sees green shoots in an unlikely place: Palestine. “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to the wider Middle East what off-Broadway is to Broadway,” he writes in the New York Times. “It is where all good and bad ideas get tested out first.” And right now, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is testing out a very good idea. More»

(NEWSER) - Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu today called for the creation of a limited Palestinian state for the first time, saying it would have to be disarmed. Netanyahu spoke during a major policy speech about his Mideast peacemaking intentions, in which he called on Palestinian leaders to restart peace negotiations. "In any peace agreement, the territory under Palestinian control must be disarmed, with solid security guarantees for Israel," he said. More»