A minor step in the right direction, though of course, if history is any guide, the settlements will expand while intense “negotiations” commence: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is leaving for Washington tonight, has promised the Obama administration Israel will make several goodwill gestures toward the Palestinian Authority in response to Washington’s demands. For the…
Showing all posts tagged Gaza
What worked in the West Bank is being tried in Gaza
It’s encouraging that Palestinians in Gaza are peacefully protesting their situation and we should salute their bravery: alestinians on Saturday entered 50 meters into the Israeli army’s buffer zone east of As-Salqa in central Gaza, near the Israeli military post at Kisufim. Mahmoud Az-Zeq, one of the activists, described the rally to Ma’an as “clear,…
Hearing the voices of Gaza (and not via Skype)
A fine and internationally recognised journalist from Gaza, Mohammed Omer, is trapped in diplomatic limbo: Effectively canceling a planned speaking tour, the US consulate in the Netherlands has put an extended hold on the visa application of award-winning Palestinian journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer, scheduled to speak on conditions in Palestine, on 5 April in…
Jew running for the US Senate calls for end of Gaza blockade
Jonathan Tasini is a Jew who grew up in Israel and is a Democrat candidate for the US senate. He calls here for the end of the Gaza blockade. Yet another small but significant Jewish voice in the US that simply doesn’t believe in the myth of Zionist solidarity:
Pressure on Israel grows, but what will be the real response?
The latest court gossip about the Israeli/American relationship. Wake me up when the Jewish state actually reverses any of its occupation. The Guardian: King Abdullah of Jordan added to pressure on Israel over its settlements policy today, demanding the international community take firm action over what he called the “red line” of Jerusalem. Abdullah, a…
Yet more separation between West Bank and Gaza
A press release from 15 March: HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, and 11 other Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations petitioned the Supreme Court today against the military and the Minister of Defense, demanding the revocation of an illegal procedure which prevents Palestinians living…
One meaning of the Israel/Australia bond is selling weapons to the other
This from the Electronic Intifada in February: Despite Israel’s oppressive tactics against it, the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement has marked additional victories with many institutional investors divesting from or blacklisting Israeli military contractor Elbit Systems. One of the largest Dutch pension funds told The Electronic Intifada today that it is selling off its…
Spare us your anguished Zionist soul
Norman Finkelstein on the less discussed importance of the Goldstone report: “The impact of the Goldstone report is tremendous,” the Middle East scholar Norman Finkelstein said when I reached him in New York. “It marks and catalyzes the breakup of the Diaspora Jewish support for Israel because Goldstone is the classical Diaspora Jew. He is…
This is what Israel has created in Gaza: kids with one thought on their minds
The Independent reports on the children of Gaza, suffering and dying for vengeance: Homelessness is just one of the issues facing the 780,000 Gazan children in the aftermath of the conflict, problems that are explored in a revealing new documentary Dispatches: Children of Gaza, to be screened tomorrow at 8pm on Channel 4. Perhaps the…
Goldstone threatens the chances of killing civilians, anywhere
Surprise, surprise. So the real issue with the UN Goldstone report over Gaza isn’t really the innocents killed, it’s that the recommendations could be used against the West (via the Forward): In Congress, New York Democrat Gary Ackerman, chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, is one of those leading…