Ta’ayush are a wonderful Israeli human rights group that spend most weekends in the West Bank protecting Palestinians from crazy settlers and complicit soldiers (see here). Last weekend this happened: In one of the most remarkable activities in recent time, Palestinians and Israeli activists succeeded this Saturday (alas, only for few hours) in breaking the…
Showing all posts tagged West Bank
Israel real peace threat
A revealing letter in today’s Melbourne Herald Sun, proving once again that public opinion towards Israel is far ahead of the political and media elite: Was there an elephant in the room at the recent meeting of the G20? So much time devoted to badgering Iran over its alleged nuclear ambitions and not a word…
Australian Jewish academics pray for peace (but urge no action)
The saga of holding Israel to account continues. Following the recent call for a campaign against apartheid Israel, played out in the media and online, comes this response by some of Australia’s best-known Jewish academics: We write in response to the two letters published in The Australian on Monday 21 September by Anthony Loewenstein and…
If Israel calls itself a democracy it has to act like one
Following my letter in last week’s Australian supporting the targeted boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel, Labor MP Michael Danby responds: Antony Loewenstein and Jake Lynch (The Australian, Letters blog, 22 September) criticise Philip Mendes and Nick Dyrenfurth for their opposition to the campaign for “boycott, disinvestment and sanctions” directed at Israel. But they…
Is Israel trying to provoke more trouble?
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights release a statement: The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the Israeli government’s decision to allow Jewish settler groups to enter the yards of the al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. … PCHR further condemns the use of excessive force by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against Palestinian civilians…
The few Jewish Israelis who put human rights into action
During my recent visit to Israel and the West Bank I spent time with the wonderful Israeli group Ta’ayush as they protected Palestinian farmers from violent Jewish settlers and complicit IDF soldiers. Here’s a story, via Ta’ayush member Joseph Dana: September 22, 2009. Jerusalem District Court. Amiel and Eli It’s become a little too familiar,…
Talk is cheap when settlements grow by the day
As the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel gathers pace, the inevitable Zionist backlash is growing. Here’s the Forward editorial this week: Time was when a boycott demanded personal sacrifice as an expression of protest. That’s how the name first was coined, when Irish tenant farmers and tradesmen in the late-19th century refused to…
The sad days of the Palestinian Authority
This is how Israel and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority do business (the latter having virtually no power as the compliant partner): Tensions are mounting between Israel and the Palestinian Authority following Ramallah’s call on the International Court at The Hague to examine claims of “war crimes” that the IDF allegedly committed during Operation Cast Lead…
The mangling of truth when reporting the Middle East
Following the publication here in early September of a new SBS news directive that told journalists not to use the term “Palestinian land” to, er, describe Palestinian land, today’s Australian newspaper has some responses: Tzvi Fleischer, editor of Australia/Israel Review, which is put out by the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, backed SBS’s position. “It’s…
God told them to settle Palestinian land
Just another day in the West Bank through the eyes of fundamentalist Jewish settlers.