“The international criminal court has announced that it has jurisdiction in Palestine, clearing its chief prosecutor to investigate alleged atrocities despite fierce Israeli objections.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, condemned the ruling and said the country would “protect our citizens and soldiers in every way from legal persecution”.”

“The labelling of products originating on Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory has sparked further controversy in Canada after a government run wine seller was found distributing bottles of Palestinian-made wine after covering up the word "Palestine" on the label with a version saying "West Bank".”

“The Palestinian health ministry has approved the main Russian vaccine against Covid-19, known as Sputnik V, for domestic use, making it "the first country in the Middle East" to do so, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund said on Monday.

In a statement, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) confirmed that the Palestinians had registered for the vaccine “under the emergency use authorisation procedure without additional clinical trials in the country”, following the footsteps of local regulators in Algeria, Argentina, Bolivia and Serbia.”

“At its 2020 National Conference, solidarity with Palestine was proposed as part of NUS' Ethnocultural platform. The platform, moved by 2020 Ethnocultural Officer Vinil Kumar and UNSW Education Officer Shovan Bhattarai, was adopted unanimously by delegates at the conference.”

“When did you first become interested in the issue of Palestine?
Being raised as a Christian I held the view that the Israelites were “God’s chosen people” and therefore everything they did was blessed. It was not till I was in my mid-30s that I was brought up short. By that time I had rejected Christianity and belief in a god, and was running as a candidate for the Australian Democrats. A potential voter asked me about the party’s position on Palestine, and I undertook to find out and get back to them. That was when I found out the party policy was strongly pro-Palestinian causing me to research why, ultimately resulting in a 180 degree turn in my personal position.”