The limits of free speech in a democracy is an age old question. Personally, I find that censoring any opinions is a dangerous precedent, especially those that may be unpopular with the ruling elites. So what to do about this? Germany’s far-right National Democratic party (NPD) has triggered outrage with plans for a Third Reich-style…
Showing all posts tagged human rights
When Zionist self-reflection is essential
The following posters by Peace Now are popping up around Jerusalem at the moment: Why was the First Temple destroyed? Because of three things – idolatry, incest and bloodshed. Why was the Second Temple destroyed? Because there was unfounded hatred. And what, heaven forbid, will lead to the destruction of the Third Temple? The settlements,…
Gaza deserves to feel wanted
It’s about time, though this should not be framed as Israel doing some wonderful favour to the people whom it recently bombed: For the first time since the end of Operation Cast Lead, Israel plans to transfer several hundred tons of cement and other construction materials, including metal pipes, into the Gaza Strip to facilitate…
Hamas can only be ignored for so long
The split between Fatah and Hamas is spoken about constantly in Gaza. The vast majority of people I talk to say that they dearly hope ideologues on both sides take a step back and reconcile for the sake of peace. Israel and America have other ideas: A new report for the London-based Middle East Monitor…
How much Islam does Gaza desire?
The Islamisation of Gaza under Hamas is something I’m hearing and seeing. But is it what the people want? The following story by leading local journalist Fares Akram – whose father was murdered by the Israelis during the January war – wrote the following story for Xinhua news service a few days ago: Four men…
When the West Bank becomes the Wild West
My friend Joseph Dana, based in Jerusalem, on yet another week of IDF and settler lawlessness in the West Bank: Saturday was a burning hot day in the West Bank. Combatants for Peace, a group made up of Israeli ex-combat soldiers and Palestinian ex-fighters, planned a protest at an illegal outpost adjacent to Shufa, a…
Gaza: flattened, occupied, sick and rootless
My following article appears in today’s edition of Crikey: During a conversation last night in Gaza with a group of 20-something male students, the issue of homosexuality came up. These were university-educated, Muslim men with relatively liberal attitudes but accepting a gay lifestyle was a complete anathema to them. “It’s disgusting,” one said, a Fatah…
Hope lives in Gaza despite siege, desperation and anger
My following essay appeared this week on Mondoweiss: The drive from Gaza City to Khan Younis takes around 40 minutes. The roads are rocky and the landscape barren, with destroyed houses and factories along the way. Cars and donkey-drawn carts populate the road. Last Friday I rode in a battered taxi towards the city to…
Palestinian AIDS patients enjoy little care, little mercy
The following story was published in 2006 by my Gazan journalist friend Ahmed Aldabba: The way in which 14-year-old Osama, not his real name, caught the HIV/AIDS virus was unusual, but the reaction of the Palestinian society was not so surprising. “I got the visrus from a blood transfusion when I was 12 years old,”…
Islam under Hamas gets defined
Being in Gaza, it’s clear that a relatively strict interpretation of Islam is growing in public appearance. Many Gazans don’t subscribe to it, but for example it’s very rare to see a woman with her hair uncovered. This report therefore rings true: Senior Hamas officials had claimed, in the wake of Hamas’ June 2007 Gaza…