Gaza’s private sector operating at 15% production capacity due to siege — Middle East Monitor (10/25/19)

The head of the Palestinian Businessmen Association, Ali Al-Hayek, said that the private sector in Gaza is operating at a production capacity of no less than 15% due to the continued division and siege. The bad conditions in Gaza are still affecting the economy, in light of the continued depletion of the productive sectors, which in turn has affected thousands of economic activities, stressed Al-Hayek in a press statement on Thursday. He further explained that the economy of the Gaza Strip is suffering from the largest deficit in terms of the number of economic establishments, new investments and employment. He pointed out that in case the situation remains without any urgent intervention, more economic crises and complications will ensue, especially in terms of the number of poor and unemployed people.

Rights group: Record number of home demolitions in East Jerusalem — Al Jazeera (10/24/19)

Episcopal Church officially bars investments in companies benefitting from the Israeli occupation — Mondoweiss (10/24/19)

This week, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church adopted a human rights investment screen related to Israel and Palestine and will sell its holdings in Motorola Solutions, Caterpillar, Inc., and the Israel Discount Bank. This is the latest step in response to a July 2018 General Convention Resolution (B016) which committed the Episcopal Church to a similar process taken by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America two years earlier. The action also follows steps previously taken by the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ. The human rights screen would bar Episcopal Church investments in “any corporation that supports or benefits from denial of human rights in or through the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem or the Gaza Strip.” 

Washington's Palestine museum brings new voices to the US capital — Middle East Eye (10/23/19)

Americans overwhelmingly reject anti-BDS laws, poll finds — Electronic Intifada (10/23/19)

The War on Truth: How Israel’s Social Media Trolls Conquered Facebook — Palestine Chronicle (10/22/19)

On October 9, the social media platform, Facebook, deleted the page of the popular Palestinian news website, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC). This act, which was carried out without even contacting the page administrators, confirms that Facebook’s war on pro-Palestine voices is continuing unabated. PIC had nearly five million followers on Facebook, a testament to its popularity and credibility among a large cross-section of Palestinians and their supporters internationally. For Israel’s trolls on social media, PIC was simply too effective to be allowed to spread its message. As usual, Facebook obliged. This oft-repeated scenario – where pro-Israeli social media trolls zoom in on a Palestinian media platform while working closely with Facebook management to censor content, bar individuals, or delete whole pages – is now the norm. Palestinian views on Facebook are simply unwanted, and the margin of what is allowed is rapidly shrinking.