Today, 15 May 2012, marks the 64th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, the anniversary of the uprooting of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland. This was the harshest and most brutal ethnic cleansing in the world, and included systematic and deliberate killings and displacement. This culminated in a declaration of the State of Israel on the debris of Palestinian people, cities and villages.

At least six of the 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are in imminent danger of dying, according to their lawyers.

The world’s largest international security corporation, G4S helps maintain and profits from Israel’s prison system, in which thousands of Palestinian political prisoners are on hunger strike. (Nidal El-Khairy)

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Pro-Palestinian activists who organised a “flytilla” to Israel in order to travel to the West Bank and demonstrate against Israeli policies have been arrested after arriving at Ben Gurion international airport. Many members of the Welcome to Palestine campaign had already been prevented by authorities across Europe from boarding flights bound for Israel.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy told President Barack Obama last week he was fed up with dealing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and considered him a liar. Sarkozy made the comment during a private conversation with Obama during a G20 summit in the French riviera town of Cannes last week and the remarks were overheard by a small number of journalists but not initially reported.

“I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar,” Sarkozy told Obama during a frank exchange where the US president took him to task for backing a Palestinian request for membership of the UN cultural heritage agency UNESCO.

A Reuters reporter was among the journalists present and can confirm the veracity of the comments, which were relayed by a French internet outlet today. (Source)

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The United States government has cut off funds to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organisation (UNESCO), following the agency’s admission of Palestine as a full member.

Washington’s decision to withold $60m in funding, which is about one-quarter of UNESCO’s annual budget, came after 107 out of 173 countries voted in favor of the Palestinian bid for statehood.

Although UNESCO’s membership marks a small victory for Palestinian officials, it could help them protect more than 20 monumental Palestinian cultural and religious sites.

The US also condemned UNESCO’s move, saying that it “undermines” the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.

The Palestinians will not accept anything less than full UN membership and do not want an upgrade to an observer state in the world body, their foreign minister said.

Riyad al-Malki’s remarks on Thursday suggested the Palestinians would not seek such an upgrade once their bid for full state membership meets its widely expected fate; failure due to opposition from the United States and other governments.

Malki told journalists in Ramallah the Palestinians could have won observer state status long ago and were not interested in it now. They currently hold the status of observer entity.

Palestinians say they are outraged by the Israeli government’s decision to withhold millions of dollars of tax revenues from them while accelerating settlement construction. The decision follows Palestine being recognised as a state by UNESCO — the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

There are now 150,000 Palestinian Authority employees across the West Bank and Gaza who do not know whether they will receive their full salaries next week.

A prominent university professor says that the Palestinians’ entry into UNESCO will lead to their full membership in the United Nations, in an exclusive interview with Mukhaimer Abu Sa’ada, professor of political science at al-Azhar University

Pressure is building for a diplomatic solution between Palestinians and Israelis.

In New York, the Palestinian foreign minister voiced confidence that his delegation would muster the minimum nine votes needed to win UN Security Council support for Palestinian statehood.

Security Council resolutions need nine votes from the 15-nation body to pass, but the United States has already said it will veto the measure, which would prevent its passage.

Israeli officials who oppose the bid had said the Palestinians would have difficulty securing the minimum number needed.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said: “We’re working towards it and I think we’ll manage it.

“We hope the United States will revise its position and be on the side of the majority of nations or countries who want to support the Palestinian right to have self determination and independence,” Malki said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to give UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon an application on Friday for full UN membership for a Palestinian state, setting the stage for a showdown with Israel and the United States. [

Israel, which has called for renewed direct talks with the Palestinians, opposes the UN move and says it is aimed at de-legitimising Israel. The Palestinians say their UN bid is aimed at opening the door to renewed peace talks among two equals – both of them sovereign states.

The latest round of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed a year ago after Israel refused to extend a moratorium on new settlements in areas the Palestinians want for a future state.

Husam Zumlot, a member of the Palestinian official delegation to the UN, talks about the Palestinian bid for UN membership. He describes the Israeli prime minister’s call for talks as a propaganda stunt.

Israel has carried out air strikes over Gaza after a series of attacks in southern Israel killed at least eight people. The air strikes killed at least six people, including five members of the Hamas-linked Popular Resistance Committees and a young boy.

The air raid came in response to an attack on vehicles heading towards the Israeli resort of Eilat on Thursday.

This short film documents the Israeli side of a 2011 public opinion survey in Israel and the West Bank. For this part of the survey, 5 cities were visited: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Be’er Sheba, Herzliya, and Haifa where 250 Jewish-Israelis were interviewed in Israel today.

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In the light of a prisoners swap deal led by Hamas, the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners Affairs’ statistics bureau revealed that there are 299 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails for over 20 years.

While Arabs call for democracy, Israelis want a country they can afford. More than 300,000 protesters fill the streets of major cities to demand a lower cost of living.