Following my article in the Canberra Times this week outlining the harsh realities in the West Bank and Gaza, this letter is published in the paper today: Antony Loewenstein (”Drop rose-coloured views to lift Gaza peace hopes”, September 9, p11) claims that Hamas is boycotted because Israel and the West refuse to accept its election.…
Showing all posts tagged West Bank
US-backed shock troops to silence Palestinian voices
Some in the global media (example number one) are enthralled by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, allegedly building a civic society in the West Bank. In fact, writes Mohammed Khatib,the secretary of Bil’in’s Village Council and a leading member of Bil’in’s Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, these measures are actively engaged to erase any…
SBS Arabic radio on My Israel Question
I was interviewed this week on SBS Radio Arabic about my book My Israel Question, my observations of Gaza and the West Bank and the prospects of peace under Barack Obama (hint: not high):
Ham-fisted Zionist propaganda (on the Sabbath)
Zionist bloggers, come to Israel to meet fellow Jews and learn how to spread the word about…Humus? What do Humus101, The Big Felafel, and Mommy’s Going Meshugganah have in common? They’re all blogs which concern Jewish issues such as being a tourist in Israel and how to deal with a Jewish in-law. Creators of these…
The IDF is the settler’s army
Another lawless day in the occupied territories: Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, shooting in the air and smashing windows, witnesses said. The Israeli military confirmed there had been an incident in the Asira al Qibliya village in the northern West Bank, but that there were no reports…
An important debate on sanctions, Israel and the one-state option
After my story in Crikey a few days ago – talking about the concept of boycotting Israel and the one-state solution – a Jewish Australian responded yesterday. The following is my (unpublished) response: The decision to support a cultural and academic boycott of Israel is not something to be taken lightly. It is done, like…
Norway should go much further against Israel
Amira Hass in Haaretz: The question is not why Norway divested from the defense electronics giant Elbit Systems, but why only now, and why only from that company? The country that gave the name of its capital city to what the world thought of as a peace process is still invested in companies involved in…
Palestinian democracy through the barrel of a gun
I reported yesterday on the Western-backed Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad speaking about his vision for a Palestinian state by 2011. Hasan Abu Nimah and Ali Abunimah, writing in The Electronic Intifada, tell us what that “state” may look like: Fayyad aims to project an image of a competent Palestinian administration already mastering the craft…
How to make trouble in the Middle East
Is this Middle East “peace plan”, obtained by Politico’s Laura Rosen, even close to reality? 1. Deploying international forces in the Jordan Valley and some areas of the West Bank. 2. Placing some areas in east Jerusalem under the authority of Israel and keeping the Islamic sites in Jerusalem under Arab control. 3. Disbanding all…
Drop rose-coloured views to lift Gaza peace hopes
My following article appears in today’s Canberra Times newspaper: Hussam Abuayish lives in Gaza’s Johrel-Deik district near the Israeli border. With yellow teeth and nervous demeanour, the 24-year-old told me in July of an Israeli missile that landed near his family home a month before. His sister died and he remains in pain because of…