SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .

RABBIS  FOR  HUMAN  RIGHTS  CELEBRATE  SUKKOT  AT  KHAN  AL-AHMAR   
Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) announced on that they have set up sukkah’s, which are temporary tents constructed for use during the week-long Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem.   ___RHR decided to set up sukkah’s at the Bedouin village to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, to show solidarity with the residents and as a protest against Israel’s planned demolition of the village.   ___RHR said, in a statement, “We will express solidarity with our Bedouin brothers and we will live as they do for a little bit. We will remember that our forefathers lived as free human beings for 40 years in the Sinai Desert.”    More . . .
Related . . . Qatar  reiterates  condemnation  of  Israeli  decision  to  demolish  Al-Khan  Al-Ahmar  village

EGYPTIAN  PRESIDENT:  ‘TRUMP  MADE  UNIQUE  CHANGES  WORLDWIDE’
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi met with the United States President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly meeting in the US, on Monday.   During the meeting, the US President described al-Sisi as “a great friend.”   [. . . .] For his part, al-Sisi said that this meeting “speaks volumes of the magnitude of the relationship between Egypt and the US,” adding that during Trump’s term, the relationship “has led to even more support.”    More . . .
Related . . .   Erdoğan  vows  to  safeguard  Jerusalem  against  Israeli  invaders

KING  ABDULLAH  II:  ‘UNRWA  MUST  CONTINUE  DESPITE  US  CUTS’ 
Jordanian King Abdullah II told the United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, on Monday that the Jordanian Kingdom believes a two-state solution is the only path to peace and that the international community must continue to support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).    ___The two had scheduled a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York . . .      ___Abdullah II reaffirmed his position regarding that the future State of Palestine must have East Jerusalem as its capital and that the only path to peace is through a two-state solution.   More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .

PALESTINE:  THE  TESTBED  FOR  TRUMP’S  PLAN  TO  TEAR  UP  THE  RULES-BASED  INTERNATIONAL  ORDER
Jonathan Cook
Washington’s decision to intensify swinging aid cuts to the Palestinians . . .  reveals more than a simple determination to strong-arm the Palestinian leadership to the negotiating table.    ___Under cover of a supposed peace effort . . .  the Trump administration . . .   wants finally to shake off the burden of international humanitarian law, and the potential for war crimes trials . . .  ___The Palestinians . . . are the most troublesome legacy of a post-war, rules-based international order that the US is now committed to sweeping away. Amputate the Palestinian cause, an injustice festering for more than seven decades, and America’s hand will be freer elsewhere.    [. . . .] The Israeli bulldozers sent to KHAN AL AHMAR will also launch an assault on Europe and its resolve to defend international law and the Palestinians. When push comes to shove, will Europe’s nerve hold?    More . . .

THE  TRUMP  ADMINISTRATION  IS  TRYING  TO  REDUCE  THE  NUMBER  OF  PALESTINIAN  REFUGEES,  HERE’S  WHY  IT  WON’T  WORK
Susan Akram
The Trump administration’s decision last month to cut $360 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is a purely political decision that has no relevance to the definition of Palestinians as “refugees”, nor to their legal rights. Although highly significant since the U.S. makes the largest single donation to UNRWA of any country, the claim that defunding UNRWA will somehow terminate the Palestinian refugee problem and lead to peace is absurd.     ___UNRWA has nothing to do with defining or perpetuating “refugee status.” The definition and status of Palestinian refugees is determined by the UN General Assembly . . .     More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“THE  WEST’S  CRAFTY  MEN,”  BY  MUHAMMAD  FANATIL  AL-HAJAYA

The West’s crafty men laid a trap, and Putin fell in
They messed with his mind the way Spaniards mess with bulls

Putin went to save a man who slaughtered half his people
And the chaos is helping out the Balfour Declaration

The Persians are playing the same game:
Divvying up the land and the work and the roles

A conspiracy against the Arabs, so hard for us to bear
A dish of politics cooked up by one thousands specialists

For them we’re just a plate of food, their greed for which has increased
With our divided opinions and broken power

The Arabs’ Baghdad? A Zoroastrian hyena-wolf is tearing it to pieces
The Levant? Now a rabid bear’s slice of the pie

Lebanon? Nasrallah and Hezbollah are mangling it
Yemen? Contracted out to the Houthis

Every form of evil has been sowed in the Arabs’ lands
Sectarian strife has increased, and blood is being spilled in vain

Jerusalem? Our younger generations haven’t even heard of it
An old nakba is waiting for a cast of falcons

A world of injustice, convinced we Arabs have no rights
For that world, injustice is a principle, a way, a constitution

Oh Security Council, you’re also just a game
And I hereby witness that you’re a council of injustice and oppression

—Translated by William Tamplin