Secular Israelis who prioritise living in a liberal democracy are a shrinking portion of Israel’s population, said Uri Ram, professor of sociology and anthropology at Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

By 2015, only a minority – although, at 45%, a large one – of the Jewish population in Israel defined themselves as secular, and that is shrinking as religious and ultra-orthodox Jewish families, on average, have more children.

Data from the first class at elementary schools in 2023 showed that only 40% of children were in the secular stream, he said.

“There is a growing problem of ‘brain drain’, and it will increase, firstly, if the military risk is not reduced and, secondly, if the state does indeed turn more populist-autocratic,” said Ram, who has researched the struggle for Israel’s future between liberal, mostly secular Israelis like Noam and a group he describes as ethno-religious traditionalists.

“In these situations, the upper middle classes will send their young generations abroad. Jews are well networked in desired academic and professional markets abroad, and family and work connections will assist the integration of young, educated Israeli immigrants in the desired locations.”

from #WashingtonPost [gift article]
[Bias alert - WaPo usually favors Israel]

By Souad Mekhennet and Joby Warrick October 5, 2024 at 5:50 p.m. EDT

from #WashingtonPost [gift article] [Bias alert - WaPo usually favors Israel]

By Souad Mekhennet and Joby Warrick October 5, 2024 at 5:50 p.m. EDT

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian journalist on Sunday, weeks after he received threatening messages instructing him to stop filming Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military sent tanks and troops into the camp in the northern Gaza Strip late on Saturday following a night of heavy air strikes. It marked the military's third ground assault on Jabalia since the war on Gaza began a year ago.

Hassan Hamad, 19, died when his home in Jabalia refugee camp was struck by artillery fire. Hamad was reporting on the new Israeli incursion just moments before he was killed.

By MEE staff Published date: 5 October 2024 19:45 BST

[We need a lot more of these]

By Brett Wilkins. October 4, 2024

By Common Dreams staff October 5, 2024

Naomi Klein. Sat 5 Oct 2024 08.00 EDT.

‘An embarrassing moment’ at CNN

In November, CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson embedded with the Israeli army to visit Gaza’s bombed-out al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital.

Once inside, military spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed to have found proof Hamas was using the hospital to hide Israeli captives. Hagari showed Robertson a document on the wall written in Arabic, which he said was a roster of Hamas members watching over the captives. “This is a guarding list. Every terrorist has his own shift,” Hagari told Robertson.

To make matters worse, the Israeli claim had already been debunked by Arabic speakers on social media before the CNN footage aired, and, according to multiple CNN journalists and an internal WhatsApp chat seen by Al Jazeera, a Palestinian producer alerted her colleagues, including Robertson, but was ignored. After the report aired on television, they said, another producer tried to get it corrected before it was posted online.

‘No balance’ at the BBC

In the days after October 7, the BBC set up an internal group chat in which producers could screen potential interviewees based on their online footprint. Al Jazeera has obtained messages from that chat.

“It was overwhelmingly guests on the Palestinian side of things who were being looked into,” she said. “Palestinians [were] being flagged up for using the word Zionist, which isn’t something to flag necessarily.”

By Humeyra Pamuk
October 4, 20242:56 PM EDT

Schuyler Mitchell
Sep 30, 2024

Jessica Washington
September 30 2024, 5:40 p.m.

Sam Biddle
October 2 2024, 3:30 p.m.

For the first time in more than 20 years, Israeli fighter jets bombed a West Bank city on Thursday night.

Eighteen people were killed and many others wounded, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Fayed, who lost his brother in the attack, was in a nearby building when the Israeli missile hit his cafe.

It was a normal night, he told Middle East Eye, with people gathered to eat and smoke as usual. Within seconds, the bombing changed the scene completely, he added. “There were bodies strewn on the fences, the utility poles, the roads and under the rubble,” he recalled.

This feature length investigation by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit exposes Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip through the medium of photos and videos posted online by Israeli soldiers themselves during the year long conflict.

Ahmad Wuhidi October 4 2024, 6:00 a.m.