Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard recently led a delegation to Israel. It was a trip of stunning insignificance. Slogans were expressed, Palestine was largely ignored and Israel was blindly supported. This week’s Australian Jewish News features an “interview” with Gillard. It’s quite an achievement for the reporter and Gillard herself to say nothing of…
Showing all posts tagged Gaza
Humiliation as Israeli policy
An Israeli official recently told the BBC on the ongoing blockade of Gaza: The blockade, which is currently under review, may inadvertently benefit Hamas – but pointed out that easing it might be taken as a victory for the Islamic movement.
Don’t mention the occupation (repeat after me)
The number of Western commentators – well, Zionists on the drip-feed, actually – who are proclaiming the wonders of an economically-buoyant West Bank is seemingly growing by the day. Why worry about ending the occupation and ongoing settlement building when you can see a new Hollywood film at the local cinema? Palestinians should be so…
A wander down the Gaza sea-side
Skip Schiel is a US-based activist who spends time in the Middle East. He’s currently in Gaza and writing some evocative posts. Here’s one about the city port, a place I saw a few weeks ago with my own eyes: A day yesterday when my muses were brilliant: to the port, El Mina in Arabic,…
What crisis in Gaza?
Another day that the Palestinians in Gaza are forgotten: Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip has resulted in the devastation of livelihoods, a rise in food insecurity, and an energy, water and sanitation crisis for the territory’s 1.5 million Palestinians, the United Nations said Monday.
Killing Gazans isn’t exactly ideal
Fred Abrahams, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch’s Emergencies Program, tells Democracy Now! that Israel must answer serious allegations against its soldiers murdering innocent Palestinians holding white flags during the recent war: Well, the main criticism from the Israeli government of our report is attacking the methodology. And, you know, this is the same methodology…
The most basic emotion in Gaza
War and destruction is central to any Gazan life. But what about something far more normal, like love and marriage? They say that all is fair in love and war. In Gaza, love and war have come together in a bittersweet union. Rana, 26, like many women around the world, dreamed of walking down the…
When crazy Zionism meets just crazy
Orly Tait, the Jew behind the Obama “birther” controversy, speaks to Haaretz: “During the campaign, Obama was telling American Jews that he is for Israel… but sure enough, just as he was elected, look at his first actions, he issued an executive order to give $900 million to Gaza with no preconditions.” Taitz says that…
A hidden side of the Gaza war
Amira Hass writes in Haaretz: Forty Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were incarcerated in Israel Prison Service facilities during Operation Cast Lead at the beginning of this year, and 21 are still in prison. That’s a very small number, compared to the many hundreds the Israel Defense Forces arrested in Gaza, and as compared with…
When Hamas and Israel are judged by different standards
The Hamas strike against a (supposed) al-Qaeda gang in Gaza is given a thorough examination by journalist and blogger Orly Halpern: I was shocked today to read how my colleague and friend, Haaretz’s Palestinian Affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff, portrayed Hamas’ crushing of an Al-Qaeda inspired Islamic extremist group over the weekend in southern Gaza. The…