I regularly feature the writings of Father Peter Bray, a New Zealander who heads Bethlehem University. He offers first-hand accounts of the realities of occupation: 7 July 2010 Greetings from this holy place! Last week we finally celebrated the graduation of 656 students and so brought to an end the academic year which was the…
Showing all posts tagged human rights
What Israeli soldiers are told about fighting Arabs
Breaking the Silence is an Israeli group made up of former soldiers who detail the horrendous acts in the West Bank under occupation. One of the founders, Yehuda Shaul, 27, tells Haaretz that the IDF rarely has any intention of seriously investigating itself: What’s really disturbing about Operation Cast Lead is not the ordinary soldiers.…
Where do oil companies pay a price for their criminality?
The culpability of BP in the Gulf of Mexico is clear. But further afield we find other major oil companies behaving very badly: To the list of Big Oil companies with p.r. problems add two more: Chevron and French energy giant Total. In a report published on Monday, the NGO EarthRights International accuses the firms…
Meg Ryan and Dustin Hoffman taking a stand for Palestine?
If true, a rather remarkable political act by two very mainstream actors (and one Jew): Hollywood actors Meg Ryan and Dustin Hoffman backed out of attending this year’s annual Jerusalem Film Festival, which is set to kick off this coming Thursday, following the international outcry over Israel’s attack on a Turkish-led flotilla that attempted to…
BDS brings out the worst in Israel
As we learn more every day about the strength of the BDS movement and the companies that should be targeted – ever considered the role of IKEA in the occupied territories? – feel the fear in the Zionist community: The decision last week by the Methodist Church of Britain to launch a boycott against goods…
Gillard remains in the gutter over asylum seekers (and she feels fine)
Australia’s new refugee policy is truly a “he-man” competition. Who can seem toughest on those evil people smugglers? Who can maximise political capital over the handful of desperate souls from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Iraq keen to make a better life? Opening a regional processing centre in East Timor smacks of a typical Western colonial…
Refugees are sent back to an uncertain fate
The London Independent on what really happens when the UK deports failed asylum-seekers.
Asylum seekers deserve respect and a home
When both major sides of Australian politics race to the bottom to demonise the most vulnerable within our borders (and the ones without a megaphone to tell us what they’re thinking and feeling), it takes brave voices to lead the debate: The Greens and one of Australia’s most prominent human rights lawyers have urged new…
Better find another country to visit, Hebron oppressor
Watching every step. Israeli officers and politicians will soon be before international courts. That day is coming: The IDF was forced to cancel the departure of the outgoing Hebron Brigade commander, Col. Udi Ben-Moha, to study in the UK. Yedioth Ahronoth has learned that the army feared that Ben Moha would be arrested upon landing…
The nightmare in Hebron
Another day and another violent arrest of peaceful protesters in the West Bank (Max Blumenthal and Joseph Dana explain). For Palestinians, however, every day is a potential nightmare. Here’s Gideon Levy on one painful story: The scars speak for themselves: a scorched hole in the middle of his forehead, like a mark of Cain, two…