Middle East Monitor

Despite Human Rights Abuses in Yemen, Saudi Soldiers Receive UK Military Training

The British state has been under criticism for not halting arms sales to Saudi Arabia following multiple reports of human rights abuses and one of the worst human tragedies involving civilian deaths due to hunger in Yemen.

Children's backpacks lie at the site a day after Saudi Arabia conducted an airstrike on a school bus in Saada, Yemen on Friday, Aug. 10, 2018. The United Nations has called for an investigation into a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in the country's north that killed nearly 30 children. Kareem al-Mrrany | AP

More than 40 Saudi military cadets have been receiving training in British military colleges amid human rights abuse reports against the Gulf state’s forces in Yemen, local media reported on Wednesday, Anadolu reports. According to the information received through freedom of information channels by The Guardian, the cadets are being trained at

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Israeli Gov’t Launches Campaign Calling BDS Proponents ‘Terrorists in Suits’

The campaign is being spearheaded by Israel’s Strategic Affairs and Public Security Minister, Gilad Erdan, who said it “reveals the true nature and goals of the BDS movement and its connection to terrorism and antisemitism.

A member of Jewish Voice for Peace wears "another Jew supporting divestment" shirt. (Photo: Jewish Voice for Peace)

Israel has launched a smear campaign against activists affiliated with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, labeling them “terrorists in suits”. Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry launched the campaign last weekend with a series of posters depicting prominent BDS activists as “terrorists”, using the hashtag #TerroristsInSuits to

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Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against BDS Supporters  

In the court’s 20-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras wrote that the pro-Israeli group had “danced around key issues” and was unable to show that they had suffered enough monetary damages to warrant a federal case.

BDS March Oakland

Pro-Israeli groups have suffered a major defeat in a US court after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the American Studies Association’s (ASA) resolution to endorse the call to boycott Israeli academic institutions as part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. On Monday a district court in Washington threw out the

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Over 60 Human Rights Groups Back Call to Boycott Eurovision in Israel

“The Israeli regime of military occupation, colonialism and apartheid is blatantly using Eurovision as part of its official strategy ‘Brand Israel’, which tries to show ‘the most beautiful face of Israel’ to whiten and divert attention from its war crimes against the Palestinians.”

Eurovision | Israel

Over 60 international NGO’s have added their voices in protest against the plan to hold the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv this year. They are now part of what is quickly becoming an international campaign by civil society groups seeking to move the event, which is scheduled for May, from Israel. Earlier this week 50 artists

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American-Iranian TV Anchor Marzieh Hashemi Released From FBI Custody Without Charge

Hashemi will reportedly be staying in Washington DC for a demonstration organized by her supporters scheduled for Friday.

Iran US Journalist Detained

U.S. citizen Marzieh Hashemi, an anchor on Iran's English-language service Press TV, has been released without charge after being illegally detained for ten days by the FBI. Hashemi was arrested earlier this month while boarding an internal U.S. flight from St. Louis to Denver where she had been filming a documentary on the Black Lives Matter

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Germany Allocates $62m to Development Projects in Palestine

“Germany wants to continue to contribute to stability in living conditions for the people in the Palestinian territory.”

germany aid palestine

Germany allocated €55 million ($62.5 million) to be dispersed to Palestinian development projects in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip in 2019. Klaus Kramer, the head of division in the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, told reporters in Ramallah that it was agreed, in coordination with various ministries in

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Rashida Tlaib to Lead Congressional Delegation to Palestine’s Occupied West Bank

The first Palestinian-American woman to be elected to Congress, said that her “group will focus on issues like Israel’s detention of Palestinian children, education, access to clean water, and poverty.”

Rashida Tlaib | Palestine Israel

Democratic representative-elect Rashida Tlaib is “planning to lead a congressional delegation to the Israeli-occupied West Bank”, according to a report by the Intercept. The Intercept described the trip as “a swift rebuke of a decades-old tradition for newly elected members: a junket to Israel sponsored by the education arm of the American Israel

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