2020-04-27: News Headlines

RT (2020-04-27). Israel may reopen some schools on Sunday, Gaza allows restaurants to reopen. rt.com Israel will begin a staggered reopening of schools next week if the latest health data does not warn of a heightened coronavirus risk, PM Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Monday. The country closed schools and kindergartens in mid-March, worsening an economic lockdown as parents were forced to stay at home. With unemployment peaking at 27 percent and contagion rates waning, Israel is now easing its curbs. | Netanyahu's office said children in the first three years of primary school would resume studies, in reduced class sizes of no more than 15 pupils. Kindergartens and nurseries will reopen, with children…

Miko Peled (2020-04-27). How Israel Legitimizes the Abuse of Palestinian Political Prisoners. mintpressnews.com Each year Palestinian Prisoners Day comes and goes while the prisoners remain in their cells and their conditions worsen. The destructive effects that Israel's imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians has on society cannot be overstated. Israel justifies its treatment of these prisoners with false claims that the Palestinian men, women, and children who languish in its jails are terrorists. These false claims must be rejected in their entirety. Palestinian prisoners are political prisoners, they are prisoners of conscience and must be viewed and treated as such by the international community. | Israeli claims th…

en.mehrnews (2020-04-27). VIDEO: Syrian air defense repels Israeli regime's airstrike. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 27 (MNA) — Syria's air defense systems have repelled an attack by the Israeli regime's air force in the skies over Palmyra, downing several hostile projectiles, according to a report by SANA.

Scot Nakagawa (2020-04-27). For White Nationalists, Covid-19 Came Right on Time. thenation.com For White Nationalists, Covid-19 Came Right on Time…

Norman Solomon (2020-04-27). Some Progressives Are in Denial About Trump's Fascist Momentum. indybay.org "Get rid of the malignancy in the White House"

Stephen Lendman (2020-04-27). Trump Regime Pushing for Confrontation with Iran? globalresearch.ca Since Iranians ended a generation of CIA-installed fascist dictatorship in 1979, the US has been at war on the Islamic Republic by other means. | The Trump regime escalated it way beyond where its predecessors went, risking confrontation by accident or …

RT (2020-04-27). 'Another hoax': Kremlin dismisses reports of poisoning plot against Czech officials who tore down Konev monument. rt.com The Czech media has crafted a spy thriller, based on unnamed sources, that Russians were planning to poison officials behind the removal of a monument to Marshal Ivan Konev who freed Prague from the Nazis. Moscow says it's a hoax. | The Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper claimed that three weeks ago, a diplomat from…

WSWS (2020-04-27). Leaked UK Labour Party anti-Semitism report: A filthy witch-hunt exposed. wsws.org The leak of the Labour Party investigation marks an appropriate endpoint to Corbyn's five-year record of political surrender and collusion.

WSWS (2020-04-27). As Bolsonaro pushes to reopen schools, Brazilian state governments escalate attacks on education. wsws.org Brazil's fascistic president justified his proposal by saying, "It's a reality: on average, 70 percent will catch the virus… It is no use running away from this reality."

RT (2020-04-27). Syrian air defenses repel 'Israeli aggression', down several 'hostile' missiles over Damascus — state media. rt.com Syrian missile defenses responded to an attack by Israeli warplanes, intercepting several missiles over Damascus launched from Lebanese airspace, Syria's SANA news agency reported. | A video has emerged online purportedly showing the Syrian missile shield being activated to shoot down missiles, reportedly fired by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from Lebanese airspace. | Syrian air defense active over

Steven Sahiounie (2020-04-27). Syrians Remember the Armenian Genocide as Turkey Threatens Again. globalresearch.ca April 24, 2020, marks the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, which was the first genocide of the 20th century. The starting date is held to be April 24, 1915, in a premeditated and systematic campaign to exterminate …

Cassie Miller (2020-04-27). Anti-Lockdown Rallies Are Providing an Opening for the Proud Boys and Other Far-Right Extremists. splcenter.org Protests against state-imposed stay-at-home orders have exploded across the country and attracted a wide array of right-wing supporters, including the Proud Boys.

Jonathan Cook (2020-04-26). Palestinians Hunker Down for Ramadan, Facing a Virus that doesn't Discriminate but an Occupier that does. dissidentvoice.org As the holy fasting month of Ramadan begins, the coronavirus outbreak in Israel and the Palestinian territories is proving how inevitably intertwined the two populations' lives are, while also underlining the extreme differentials of power between them. While 15,000 Israelis have tested positive for Covid-19 so far, the numbers infected in the occupied territories are …

Ali Salam (2020-04-26). Two Palestinians Shot, Injured by Israeli Army Fire in Kufur Qaddoum. imemc.org Israeli soldiers opened fire, on Saturday, towards local Palestinian civilians in Kufur Qaddoum, wounding two with rubber-coated metal rounds, while intentionally shooting at and damaging water tanks on rooftops of homes, local sources reported. Morad Eshteiwi, Coordinator of the Popular Committee in Kufur Qaddoum, told Quds News Network that a …

RT (2020-04-26). 'Blow to privacy': Top Israeli court to ban use of anti-terror tech on coronavirus patients, unless govt makes it law. rt.com Israel's High Court of Justice has ruled that a domestic spy agency must stop tracking coronavirus patients with tech it would otherwise use on terrorists — but only pending a law to legalize the practice. | In a ruling on Sunday, the court said that the government must discontinue its use of domestic intelligence service Shin Bet's broad spying powers to track the cell phones of those infected, unless it comes up with at least a temporary order to codify the practice in the next few weeks, provided the legislative process kicks off by April 30. | "We must take every precaution to ensure that the extraor…

Andrey Areshev (2020-04-26). Facebook Says Israeli Spyware Company Ran Vast Hacking Operation in the United States. strategic-culture.org Lawsuit reveals extent of Israeli spyware company's U.S. operation | Michael ARRIA | In 2019, nearly 1,400 WhatsApp users were hacked with a number human rights advocates and journalists targeted. The attack was allegedly the work the NSO Group, an Israeli spyware company. | Last October, Facebook (which owns WhatsApp)

Stephen Lendman (2020-04-26). Trump Regime Aims to Suppress Iranian Truth-Telling. globalresearch.ca US hostility toward Iran is all about its sovereign independence — free from US control. | It's also because of its large hydrocarbon resources the US seeks control over, along with wanting Israel's main rival neutralized. | Hostile US policy toward Iran …

teleSUR (2020-04-26). US Will Allow West Bank Annexation in 2 Months: Netanyahu. telesurenglish.net Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced his confidence Sunday that the United States would give him the approval within two months to go ahead with the annexation of parts of the illegally occupied West Bank. | RELATED: | "A couple of months from now I am confident that that pledge will be honored," Netanyahu told the European Commission for Israel, describing that the U.S. peace proposal announced by President Do…

Ramzy Baroud, Romana Rubeo (2020-04-26). Will the Coronavirus Change the World? We Must Be Very Careful How We Answer That Question. commondreams.org Israeli security forces stand by as Palestinian worshippers perform the first Friday prayer of the holy fasting month of Ramadan outside the closed-down Aqsa mosque compound in the old city of Jerusalem on April 24, 2020, amidst heightened security and social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. (Photo: Ahmad Gharabli / AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Ali Salam (2020-04-26). Israeli Colonists Cut Dozens of Palestinian-owned Olive Trees near Nablus. imemc.org Illegal Israeli colonists, on Friday cut down more than 30 olive trees in As-Sawiya town, south of the northern occupied West Bank city of Nablus, according to a local official. Ghassan Daghlas, an official documenting Israeli settlement construction in the area, told Palestinian WAFA News Agency, that a group of …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-26). Israeli Troops Abduct Several Palestinians from Hebron and Jerusalem. imemc.org Israeli troops reportedly abducted, on Sunday at dawn, several Palestinian youth from both the West Bank city of Hebron and the internationally-recognized occupied East Jerusalem. Palestinian sources in Hebron said that both Ali Fatafta and Kayed Fatafta, were abducted by Israeli troops who broke into and vandalized their homes in …

BIICFHRIOT (2020-04-26). B'Tselem: Israeli Settlers Exploit Coronavirus to Take Over West Bank Land with Military Backing: Violent Attacks Spike in April. imemc.org B'Tselem — The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories Since the start of the corona crisis, Israeli settlers have ramped up attacks against Palestinians throughout the West Bank, with full state backing. The attacks have increased despite the movement restrictions, lockdowns and social distancing measures introduced …

Robert Fantina (2020-04-26). Suffering in Kashmir and Palestine. globalresearch.ca While the world is pre-occupied with coronavirus and its impact on lives and the international economy, one must not forget that suffering due to oppression knows no season and has no vaccine, but is not without a cure. Sadly, for …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-25). Israeli Troops Open Fire on Palestinian Farmers in Southern Gaza. imemc.org Israeli troops opened heavy fire, earlier Saturday, towards Palestinian farmers east of Khan Younis city, south of the Gaza Strip. Local media reports said that Israeli soldiers, stationed on the Israeli side of the border fence between Gaza and Israel, fired tear-gas canisters and some live ammunition, towards local farmers, …

IMEMC News (2020-04-25). Soldiers Seriously Injure A Palestinian Worker, Abduct One, Near Jenin. imemc.org Israeli soldiers shot and seriously injured, on Friday evening, a young Palestinian man, abducted another and caused several others to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation, after the army chased Palestinian workers near Jenin, in northern West Bank. Media sources said the soldiers chased the Palestinian workers near the illegal …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-25). Arab Countries' Ambassadors to the UN Reject Israeli Annexation Plans. imemc.org Council of Arab Countries' Ambassadors to the United Nations (UN) in New York City, rejected Israel's announced annexation plans for the occupied West Bank. The council held a meeting via video conference to discuss the latest developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the illegal annexation plans, recently announced by …

teleSUR (2020-04-25). Israel: Thousands Demonstrate Against Netanyahu-Gantz Coalition. telesurenglish.net Several thousand Israelis demonstrated Saturday against a unity government RELATED: | The protesters say the unity agreement gives Netanyahu influence over the appointment of judges and legal officials, "cr…

teleSUR (2020-04-25). Italy Remembers the Day of Liberation From Nazi Occupation. telesurenglish.net Italy celebrates today the 75th anniversary of the liberation of fascism in 1945 amid a pandemic that has left 25,969 dead in the country until Saturday morning. | RELATED: | On April 25 Italians celebrate their Liberation Day, a national holiday that used to be enjoyed with concerts, events, and exhibitions to remember how popular resistance forces controlled the northern cities and drive out Nazi troops on their withdrawal to…

yenisafak (2020-04-27). Israel's population hits 9.2M including 1.93M Arabs. yenisafak.com Israel's current population has reached 9.2 million, including over one-quarter Arabs and other non-Jews, according to official new statistics.Israel's population is made up of 6.8 million Jews (74%), 1.93 million Arabs (21%), and 454,000 non-Arab Christians or adherents of other faiths (5%), the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said on Sunday.The figures were released by the bureau ahead of Israel's 72nd anniversary, which showed the rise in the population since 1948 and gave some projections for Israel's future population.The figures showed that 3.3 million Jewish people have immigrated to Israel in t…

Gordon Duff (2020-04-26). Russia's Love of Trump, But Why? Trump is Burying the United States, Just Like Nikita Promised. thealtworld.com Over the past year, since Russiagate has blown over for the most part, Sputnik News and Russia Today, the two major government controlled media operations (controlled by the same person) have embarrassingly fawned over Trump. | More than that, their slant has been decidedly racist, anti-Semitic (expressing virulent hatred for America's liberal Jewish majority), anti-Hispaic/African American/Islamic America and anti-intellectual. | They have also been anti-science but their real bias has been an ongoing smear campaign against any democratic politician or anyone that isn't a pure Deep State sludge eater. | Above al…

RT (2020-04-25). Senator hands outrage culture a win, apologizes for wearing Confederate flag face mask after defending it only a day earlier. rt.com A Michigan state senator gave in to triggered critics by apologizing for wearing a mask resembling the Confederate flag. A day earlier he ardently defended it, saying history should be taught so as not to repeat itself. | Republican Dale Zorn was photographed wearing the mask while in the Michigan state chamber on Friday to vote on bills seeking to limit the emergency powers of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. | This is Dale Zorn. He is an elected member of the Michigan Senate. He wore a Confederate Flag mask on the floor of the Michigan Senate. Then he tried to tell us he didn't…

RT (2020-04-25). #KIMJONGUNDEAD is a rumor, but political jokes at North Korean leader's expense are already here. rt.com Rumors of North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un's declining health have inspired a bevy of mocking and agenda-driven tweets from both the left and right. | The hashtag #KIMJONGUNDEAD began trending on Twitter shortly after Reuters reported that China had dispatched a team of medical experts to the country to advise on his well-being. Although next to nothing is known for sure, social media went into a frenzy with memes and posts that had less to do with North Korea and more to do with US politics. | 'Dilbert' creator and political author Scott Adams used the news to take a shot at former Vice President Joe…

teleSUR (2020-04-25). Brazil's Attorney General Demands Inquiry Against Bolsonaro. telesurenglish.net Brazil's Attorney General Augusto Aras requested Saturday for the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to open an investigation against the nation's president, Jair Bolsonaro, following accusations presented by former Super-Minister of Justice Sergio Moro. | RELATED: | Moro, the former judge who took former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to jail, accused Bolsonaro on Friday of political interference in the Federal Police…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-24). Israeli Troops Shoot, Wound Palestinian Man in Kufur Qaddoum. imemc.org Israeli Troops shot and wounded on Friday a Palestinian young man during protests in the Kufur Qaddoum village in the northern occupied West Bank. Organizers of the protest, which is staged on weekly basis, said that the Israeli troops attacked tens of Palestinian protesters near the Apartheid Wall in the …

Ali Salam (2020-04-24). Israeli Forces Storm East Jerusalem Town, Palestinian Youths Resist. imemc.org Confrontations broke out on Thursday morning, between Israeli forces and Palestinian young men in Kafr Aqab town in occupied East Jerusalem, according to local source.. Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center that soldiers were cutting down street signs, when the youth resisted the invasion, the soldiers fired rubber-coated steel …

Staff (2020-04-24). "We Don't Have the Capacity to Treat": Palestinian-Canadian Doctor Says Israel Must Lift Gaza Siege. democracynow.org As fears continue to grow about what a rampant outbreak of the coronavirus might do to the occupied Palestinian territory, already crippled by years of Israeli sanctions, we get an update from Dr. Tarek Loubani, Palestinian-Canadian doctor and emergency physician who volunteers in the Gaza Strip and returned from a trip there last month. "Testing is severely limited," he says. "There have been fewer tests in Gaza so far throughout the entire pandemic than there were in South Korea yesterday."

PCHR (2020-04-24). PCHR: Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (16 — 22 April 2020). imemc.org Palestinian Center for Human Rights Summary of Israeli Violations of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (16-22 April, 2020) Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued to violate Palestinians' human rights and commit crimes against civilians and their properties, conducting raids into Palestinian cities without regard to the state of emergency …

David Swanson (2020-04-24). How Ya Gonna Pay For It? Stop Giving Money to Israel. dissidentvoice.org Did you know that the U.S. government has done something odd with your tax dollars? The ones you get so furious and indignant about when they're used to feed anybody who's hungry? It has given over 280 billion of those dollars to the government of Israel (not counting classified hush-hush super-secret amounts). Source. Israel is …

Sasha Abramsky (2020-04-24). Once Again, Trump Shreds US Immigration Law. thenation.com Once Again, Trump Shreds US Immigration Law…

Harvey "Sluggo" Wasserman (2020-04-24). How YOU can dump Trump: Let us count the ways. peoplesworld.org Grassroots action's immense recent upset victory in Wisconsin, where voters kicked out a sitting conservative Supreme Court judge and elected a progressive, shows we can overcome even a rigged election. In November, you must do it again. When Trump tries to steal or cancel the election, our informed non-violence must rise to protect and win …

splcenter (2020-04-24). Florida voting rights trial to be argued online. splcenter.org

splcenter (2020-04-24). Fraihat v. ICE Community Resources. splcenter.org On April 20, 2020, a federal district court granted a nationwide preliminary injunction requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take a number of important steps to protect medically vulnerable people in its custody from COVID-19.

Michael Edison Hayden and Eddie Bejarano (2020-04-24). Trump's Immigration Order Was Drafted by Officials With Ties to Hate Groups, According to Report. splcenter.org Two officials with ties to anti-immigrant hate groups helped write President Trump's executive order blocking the issuance of new green cards, according to a report.

splcenter (2020-04-24). Remembering the deadly Poway shooting one year later. splcenter.org

Ramzy Baroud (2020-04-23). A Machiavellian Fiasco: How a So-Called 'Centrist' Resurrected Israel's Far Right. mintpressnews.com So-called centrist Benny Gantz has seemingly done everything in his power to assure Israel's left and center are crippled for years to come and that Netanyahu will continue his decades-long reign unopposed.

Ramzy Baroud (2020-04-23). A Machiavellian Fiasco: How 'Centrist' Gantz Resurrected Netanyahu, Israel's Right. dissidentvoice.org It was intended to be a Machiavellian move, but the decision by Benny Gantz, leader of Israel's Kahol Lavan (Blue and White) coalition, to join a Benjamin Netanyahu-led government is likely to destabilize the political fabric of Israeli society for years to come. In a surprising move, Gantz has entered into precarious political compromises, whereby …

news.un (2020-04-23). Common coronavirus enemy, forges some Palestine-Israel cooperation, but West Bank annexation looms. news.un.org The COVID-19 pandemic is creating opportunities for cooperation that Israelis and Palestinians must embrace to sustain Middle East peace efforts and bring an end to decades of conflict, the United Nations' top envoy in the region said on Thursday.

Fight Back (2020-04-23). Chicago: Celebration of International Workers Day planned. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL — Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) will be marking International Workers Day virtually with talks from leaders of workers struggles in Chicago. The Sunday, May 3 forum will be streamed from the FRSO Chicago page via Facebook Live at 4 p.m. | Kobi Guillory of FRSO and an activist in the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, states, "'We're all in this together' has been a common message from corporate politicians over the past several months. The disproportionate damage the novel coronavirus has done to working and oppressed people while billionaires continue to…

Hatewatch Staff (2020-04-23). Oath Keepers Chaplain Quits Over Leader's COVID Response. splcenter.org Chuck Baldwin, who has served as the national chaplain of the antigovernment Oath Keepers since 2013, announced his resignation early Tuesday morning on Facebook.

Caleb Kieffer (2020-04-23). The Social Contract Publishes its Last Tract. splcenter.org The Social Contract, a long-running quarterly journal founded by John Tanton, ran its final issue in Fall 2019.