Free Republic

The European Union (EU) on Friday issued a sharply worded statement in which it criticized the law that was approved this week in the Knesset, which allows the permanent residency of terrorists to be revoked. “This week, the Israeli Knesset adopted legislation which empowers the Israeli Minister of Interior to revoke the permanent residency status of persons involved in terrorism, treason or espionage,” the statement said. While the EU stressed it “rejects terrorism in all its forms”, it warned that “the new law could make the residency status of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a protected population under International Humanitarian Law,...

Hundreds of tents are to be erected near the Gaza-Israel border for a six-week protest, officials said Thursday, in what may stir fresh tensions with Israeli forces. Gaza families are to set up hundreds of tents -- possibly thousands - for the protests running from March 30 to May 15, organizers said. Protesters plan to call for the granting of a right of return for millions of so-called “Palestinian refugees” across the Middle East. Organizers said the families could stay in the tents for prolonged periods, with youth and community activities planned. The demonstration has the backing of all political...

The Hamas-affiliated newspaper Felesteen reported that the head of the UNRWA workers’ union in Gaza, Amir al-Mishal, said in his speech to the demonstrators that “the people who gathered here came to express their right to return.” He added that “rights are not received with supplication, but must be obtained by force.” Mishal called on the international community to assume its legal, moral and humanitarian responsibility for UNRWA until the return of refugees to their land, homeland and homes. He praised the Palestinian Arabs who will participate in “peaceful” demonstrations on Friday and in the so-called large-scale “March of the...

Palestinian Arabs demonstrated in Ramallah on Thursday, demanding the closure of the America House which, is operated by the U.S. consulate in eastern Jerusalem and located in the city of Ramallah. The role of the America House, which is established in 2010, is to disseminate American culture. The protesters demanded the removal of American workers and the closure of their offices, in protest of the Trump administration's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and its intention to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by mid-May, in time for Israel’s 70th Independence Day....