By Elaine Donnelly
Extending sexual misconduct to combat units
Independent voices from the TWT Communities

The Palestinians are bracing for possible punitive reactions by the U.S. and Israel if they go ahead with plans to seek U.N. General Assembly recognition of "Palestine" as a non-member observer state, according to an internal document obtained Thursday.

Mitt Romney told Jewish donors Monday that their culture is part of what has allowed them to be more economically successful than the Palestinians, outraging Palestinian leaders who suggested his comments were racist and out of touch with the realities of the Middle East. Romney's campaign later said his remarks were mischaracterized.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who clung throughout his life to the belief that Israel should hang on to territory and never trust an Arab regime, has died. He was 96 years old.

Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his Palestinian counterpart Tuesday for what he said was a "responsible" position in negotiations with Israel, frozen for nearly four years, and said Russia has no problem recognizing a Palestinian state.

A shadowy group claiming ties to al Qaeda said Tuesday that it carried out a deadly cross-border attack in Israel, the strongest evidence to date to back Israeli claims that the global terror network is operating on its doorstep.

It has been 64 years since the United Nations General Assembly approved the Partition Plan for Palestine and the struggle to implement a "two-state solution" began. Today, we are no closer to that end. That reminds me of the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Ben-Zion Netanyahu, the historian and Zionist activist whose skepticism about peacemaking with the Arabs helped to shape the world outlook of his son, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, died on Monday. He was 102.

The Palestinian prime minister pulled out of a planned meeting with Israel's leader on Tuesday, torpedoing what was set to be the highest-level talks between the sides in nearly two years.

Israel deployed hundreds of police Sunday at its main airport to detain activists flying in to protest the country's occupation of Palestinian areas in defiance of vigorous Israeli government efforts to block their arrival.
When a musician plays a violin long enough, the instrument is imprinted with its owner's way of making sound. If someone else picks it up, they learn to play it in a way that honors its history.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are to hold talks soon in what would be their first public meeting in more than two months, a senior official said Tuesday.

Undercover NYPD officers attended meetings of liberal political organizations and kept intelligence files on activists who planned protests around the country, according to interviews and documents that show how police have used counterterrorism tactics to monitor even lawful activities.

Israeli troops raided two private Palestinian TV stations before dawn Wednesday, seizing transmitters and other equipment, the military said.

Of all the issues that drive the Arab-Israeli conflict, none is more central, malign, primal, enduring, emotional and complex than the status of those people known as Palestine refugees. The origins of this unique case, notes Nitza Nachmias of Tel Aviv University, goes back to Count Folke Bernadotte, the United Nations Security Council's mediator.
Iran's leaders urged the Hamas prime minister of Gaza to continue the Islamic militant group's resistance against Israel and promised support, state TV reported Sunday.