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.…
Showing all posts tagged Gaza
Speak to Hamas right now, says Haaretz
An editorial in Haaretz that speaks some sense (and will therefore be ignored by the Israeli government and its global support base): The writer David Grossman called on the government of Israel in these pages yesterday to cease its preoccupation with the number and identity of Palestinian prisoners who would potentially be swapped for captive…
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…
Nothing to see here, Gaza blockade continues
Israel’s supposed easing of the siege on Gaza is simply an attempt to get Washington off its back. The Strip remains essentially sealed. Palestinian legislative council member Dr Mustafa Barghouti is right: I think the blockade is illegal, it’s against international law, it’s an act of collective punishment, and it should be removed immediately and…
What the lessons of the Holocaust should teach us
We reported last week about the spraying of graffiti about Palestine in Warsaw. Now, some more details: A group of Israeli left-wing activists and pro-Palestinian demonstrators last week sprayed graffiti on remnants of the Warsaw Ghetto, calling for all ghettos to be liberated, including Gaza. One of the activists was conscientious objector Yonatan Shapira, an…
Israel needs a new salesman and damn fast
Straight from the mouth of the Zionist lobby to the Israeli Prime Minister; get your message right cos America ain’t buying your soiled product: The Israel Project (TIP), an American Hasbara outfit, commissioned Republican political consultant Frank Luntz to examine the effectiveness of Israel’s public diplomacy in the US on the Flotilla debacle. TIP gave…
Voices Beyond Walls inside Gaza
American Nitin Sawhney – writer, activist and human rights worker – has spent considerable time in Gaza over the last six months. He’s not a journalist but a teacher, aiming to bring to Palestinians trapped inside the Strip the media tools to tell their stories. It’s an inspiring story that deserves wide support. Here’s his…
New York Times readers start to see the darkness in Gaza
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has been travelling around Palestine (here’s his recent strong piece from the West Bank). Now it’s Gaza. Although his words are couched in too many cautious tones, his blog offers the reality of what he really saw: My Sunday column is from Gaza, where I argue that Israel should…
Fayyadism is a dead-end road
While Palestinian dictator Mahmoud Abbas reportedly offers parts of Palestine to the Jewish state – an unelected man with no legitimate credentials, just how Washington and Tel Aviv likes it – nobody serious (except some gullible New York Times commentators) actually believes the Palestinian Authority has any real power to bring change: Since June 2007…