Palestinians

UN official Robert Piper called on the Israeli occupation to “charge or release” Bilal Kayed in a statement released on Saturday, 20 August, Kayed’s 67th day of hunger strike. The statement came as reports indicated that Kayed had been transferred to intensive care within Barzilai Hospital, and as fellow hunger striker Jalal al-Faqih, part of the collective strike in support of Kayed, was urgently transferred to HaEmek hospital after a serious heart incident.

Over 150,000 signatories have backed a Change.org petition entitled “Google: Put Palestine on your maps” as of Monday, accusing Google Maps of “making itself complicit in the Israeli government’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine” either on purpose or inadvertently. The petition, drafted by Zak Martin, slams the omission of the UN non-member observer state’s name on the map as a “grievous insult” to Palestinians.

Alain Gresh, of Monde Diplomatique explains the reasons behind the French eclipse in the Middle East. Read the article in L' Orient-Le Jour http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/958545/alain-gresh-diagnostique-la-fin-du-role-historique-de-la-france-au-moyen-orient.html and also http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/975041/palestine-quel-malaise-francais-.html