by Michael Warschawski, Alternative Information Center, 27 May 2008
Ten years ago, when the State of Israel was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, our main duty was to explain that the creation of Israel was also the Palestinian Nakba, and often people asked “what does Nakba mean?” In most of the cases, the question was the result of ignorance. Today, whoever is asking “what does Nakba mean?” is not an ignorant, but rather a Nakba-denier, a kind of cousin of the Shoah-denier who is asking “what does Shoah mean?” The concept of Nakba and the reality of the Palestinian catastrophe have become public knowledge.
Continue reading ‘Facing the spectres of Israel’s establishment: the Palestinian right of return as the true healing of Israeli society’
ILO Press Release, Geneva, 22 May 2008.
The annual report of the International Labour Office (ILO) on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories depicts a much degraded employment and labour situation showing that the plight of the Palestinian people has deteriorated alarmingly in a number of respects.“Working poverty is rising, genuine employment is declining, and frustration is growing”, the report says.
Continue reading ‘As horrible as always: UN report on conditions of Palestinian workers in the Occupied Territories’
By Donald Macintyre, The Independent (UK), 19 April 2008
The dark-haired 22-year-old in black T-shirt, blue jeans and red Crocs is understandably hesitant as he sits at a picnic table in the incongruous setting of a beauty spot somewhere in Israel. We know his name and if we used it he would face a criminal investigation and a probable prison sentence.
The birds are singing as he describes in detail some of what he did and saw others do as an enlisted soldier in Hebron. And they are certainly criminal: the incidents in which Palestinian vehicles are stopped for no good reason, the windows smashed and the occupants beaten up for talking back – for saying, for example, they are on the way to hospital; the theft of tobacco from a Palestinian shopkeeper who is then beaten “to a pulp” when he complains; the throwing of stun grenades through the windows of mosques as people prayed. And worse.
Continue reading ‘Our reign of terror, by the Israeli army’
by Rory McCarthy, The Guardian, 15 April 2008
In the end it came down to a single-page letter, written in Hebrew and Arabic and hand-delivered by an Israeli army officer who knocked at the front door. The letter spelt the imminent destruction of the whitewashed three-storey home and small, tree-lined garden that Bassam Suleiman spent so long saving for and then built with his family a decade ago.
Continue reading ‘Area C strikes fear into the heart of Palestinians as homes are destroyed’
By Yigal Bronner and Neve Gordon, 25 April 2008, Chronicle of Higher Education
“Archaeology has become a weapon of dispossession,” Yonathan Mizrachi, an Israeli archaeologist, said in a recent telephone interview with us. He was referring to the way archaeology is being used in Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood in the oldest part of Jerusalem, where, we believe, archaeological digs are being carried out as part of a concerted campaign to expel Palestinians from their ancestral home.
Continue reading ‘The politics of archaeology in East Jerusalem’
The members of Jews Against the Occupation-Sydney feel there is little to celebrate or cause for joy when considering contemporary events in Israel/Palestine. No matter what day of the year.
Continue reading ‘Australia and The Israel Motion Debate: A Lost Opportunity’
by Angela Budai, 14 March 2008
It’s been a hard week to be on the left in the Jewish community.
The issue is Israel. The Middle East.
I have a connection to Israel - I spent 12 months there after finishing high school on an AZYC program. I worked in Jerusalem, Haifa and on a Kibbutz in the Negev. I travelled around, saw the country, and met the people. I experienced life where being Jewish was the norm not the exception. It was great. I believe that Israel is important to my people.
Continue reading ‘Misrepresenting opposition on all sides’
By Joseph Wakim, 14 March 2008, Adelaide Advertiser
IT is eerily ironic that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd can move a motion to restore the dignity of Australia’s indigenous people then, exactly one month later, move a motion that may inadvertently undermine the dignity of another indigenous people. Indeed, the sorry speech on February 13 for the stolen generation was honourable because it lay bare the facts of “this blemished chapter of our nation’s history”.
Continue reading ‘Now it’s time for Israel to say sorry’
By Karen Koning AbuZayd, 23 January 2008, The Guardian (UK)
Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution, with the knowledge, acquiescence and - some would say - encouragement of the international community. An international community that professes to uphold the inherent dignity of every human being must not allow this to happen.
Continue reading ‘This brutal siege of Gaza can only breed violence’
Call to Action from: Gush Shalom, Combatants for Peace, Coalition of Women for Peace, ICAHD - The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Bat Shalom, Bat Tzafon for Peace & Equality, Balad, Hadash, Adalah, Tarabut-Hithabrut, Physicians for Human Rights, Alternative Information Center, Psychoactive - Mental Health Professionals for Human Rights, ActiveStills, Student Coalition Tel-Aviv University, New Profile, Machsom Watch, PCATI - Public Committee Against Torture, Yesh Gvul, Gisha, Social TV on the internet.
Does it help the children of Sderot when we force the children of Gaza to drink polluted water? It seems the government of Israel thinks so (if they think).
Gaza is under siege! Hundreds of commodities needed for maintaining daily life are not allowed into the Strip, by order of the Government of Israel. Even the entry of water filters - vital for purifying the water drawn from Gazan wells, which are heavily polluted by brine, oil and sewage - has already been prevented for over half a year. The Israeli media doesn’t succeed (and doesn’t even try always) to convey to the public a true impression of how severe the situation is. But anyone who has talked to Gazans in the past months understands that the situation has long since developed into a regional disaster, which puts us, too, in danger.
Continued…
Also see: Palestinian International Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza
