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A Palestinian converted to Judaism. An Israeli soldier saw him as a threat and opened fire

  JERUSALEM (AP) — At first, it seemed like the kind of shooting that has become all too common in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A Palestinian aroused suspicions and an Israeli soldier killed him. But then the deceased was identified as David Ben-Avraham, a Palestinian who had made the almost unheard-of decision to convert from Islam to Judaism years earlier. His unusual journey had taken him across some of the deepest fault lines in the Middle East and led to some unlikely friendships. Most Palestinians saw him as an eccentric outcast, while many Israelis treated him as an unwelcome convert to a religion that doesn’t proselytize. But in his final moments, he was once again viewed as a Palestinian who was in the wrong place, at a time of widespread anger and suspicion. A DIVIDED CITY He was born Sameh Zeitoun in Hebron, home to some 200,000 Palestinians as well as hundreds of Jewish settlers who live in enclaves guarded by Israeli troops. Tensions have run high for decades, often spi
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Anti-Defamation League ramps up lobbying to promote controversial definition of antisemitism

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  The Anti-Defamation League has spent record amounts on lobbying in recent years, including on bills opponents say are meant to punish criticism of   Israel   and target Jewish peace and Palestinian rights groups. The Jewish civil rights organization, founded in 1913, is the self-described “leading anti-hate organization in the world”, and has historically focused on combating  antisemitism  by shaping public opinion. Its lobbying spike marks a dramatic shift – it spent about $100,000 on lobbying in 2020 and is on pace to spend nearly $1.6m this year based on its first quarter expenditures, a Guardian analysis of federal records finds. The spending positions the ADL as the largest pro-Israel lobbying force on domestic issues.  Records show  the surge’s broader aim is to promoting a controversial definition of antisemitism across a range of federal agencies and mobilizing the government to enforce it. The 16-fold spending increase is “breathtaking” and currently unmatched on Capitol Hi
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ICC prosecutor faces demand for action against Israeli leaders and Russian attack over Putin warrant

  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor faced demands Tuesday for speedy action against Israeli leaders and a blistering Russian attack over the ICC’s arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin stemming from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Karim Khan responded by telling the U.N. Security Council that he will not be swayed or intimidated as his team investigates possible war crimes or crimes against humanity in  Gaza and the Palestinian territories  as well as in  Ukraine . Libya’s U.N. ambassador, Taher El-Sonni, told Khan that if the  Libyan cases  the ICC is investigating are so complex that they won’t be completed until the end of 2025, he should allocate the court’s efforts to the war in Gaza. El-Sonni claimed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity are being perpetrated by Israeli forces. The world expects the ICC “to be courageous and to issue arrest warrants against officials of the Israeli regime who have repeated again and again that they
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Libya files intervention in South Africa’s ICJ genocide case against Israel

  Libya   filed   a declaration of intervention Friday before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) the case concerning the Application of the   Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide   in the Gaza Strip ( South Africa v. Israel ) now underway in the UN’s principal court. Libya stated that it filed the declaration because it believes Israel has been engaging in genocide against Palestinians in  Gaza  since October 7, 2023 and failing to prevent and prosecute the direct and public incitement to genocide. Libya emphasized the Genocide Convention’s significance, noting the ICJ has recognized the prohibition of genocide as a  jus cogens  norm in international law. Libya’s intervention focuses on the proper interpretation of provisions outlining the duty to prevent and not commit and genocide, and the duty to punish it, as stipulated in Articles I, II, III, IV, V, and VI of the Convention. As a party to the Genocide Convention since 1989, Libya’s decision to
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