Part 1 here. For a while I had been reluctant to write this story, because it seemed so baggy and shapeless. The best essays are crisp, with a clearly defined turning point and an easily identifiable ah-ha moment. This story has none of those that I can see. A clear
Continue readingTag: palestine
wmtc: my journey to palestinian solidarity and the myth of the self-hating jew, part 1
The Self-Hating Jew. This is what I am, according to some. There’s a line from an Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical: “I’ve been called many names, but they’re the strangest.”* I think of this every time I hear or read the expression “self-hating Jew”. What a bizarre turn of phrase. Is it
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Google upgrades to ‘Palestine’: on another note – Schmidty sings Israel’s praises oh and Jerusalem Israel’s ‘capital’ according to GoogleMaps
Google has changed the tagline on its homepage in the occupied territories from “Palestinian Territories” to “Palestine.” A Google spokesperson informed BBC that the company had consulted sources and authorities and was “…following the lead of the UN, Icann [Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers], ISO [International Organisation for
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Ilan Pappé exposes Zionist mythologies surrounding the creation of Israel: Australian Press Club address
Ilan Pappé is an Israeli historian – born in Haifa, son of German-Jewish parents who fled Nazi persecution. He is a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom – director of the university’s European Centre for Palestine Studies
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Rachel Corrie’s parents speak on 10th anniversary of her death (VIDEO)
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist, was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip as she tried to block the demolition of a Palestinian home. Her parents, Craig and Cindy, speak on the 10th anniversary of the killing of their daughter. WATCH: This
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Thoughts on the New Israeli Government
On the same day that the world erupted in joyous, teary-eyed celebration following the selection of a new pope, a slightly less climactic breakthrough was reached thousands of kilometres away as four Israeli political parties, nearly two months after elections, quietly decided to form a coalition government. Right away, the
Continue readingwmtc: how can we condemn bigotry on the soccer field yet support racist israeli policies?
This week in The Nation, Dave Zirin reports on some disturbing – and disgusting – behaviour from Israeli soccer fans. Not even in the earliest days of Jackie Robinson’s 1947 historic debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers did Brooklyn’s white fans walk out after number 42 stole a base or hit
Continue readingdrive-by planet: BDS event at Brooklyn College goes as planned despite backlash by Israel supporters
Standing for Free Speech: Students for Justice in Palestine at Brooklyn College in the run-up to the BDS event The BDS panel discussion at Brooklyn College went ahead Thursday. It proceeded as planned despite efforts to discredit the event and intimidate the College in what really amounted to an attack
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Israel’s Election Results and the Prospects for Peace
Yair Lapid Well, that wasn’t quite as bad as I thought. Sadly, Benjamin Netanyahu will almost certainly remain prime minister of Israel after his Likud party and its electoral partner Yisrael Beiteinu won a plurality of seats in Knesset elections today. But their share has gone down sharply since the
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Adbusters’ project to “take down Harper”: #SwaggerNoMore
by Adbusters | Jan 17, 2013 “The time has come for all of us to get involved.” He ditched the Kyoto Protocol, voted against Palestine, violated human rights, passed unconstitutional laws, changed the Indian Act illegally, passed several sneaky and sinister omnibus bills . . . he continues to destroy
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Ramallah Underground: a voice against oppression
Ramallah Underground is a musical collective based in Ramallah, Palestine. The artists Stormtrap, Boikutt and Aswatt are co-founders of the collective. The style of music includes hip-hop, trip-hop, electronica, downtempo and also more traditional Arabic styles. An In These Times article “Rap the Casbah” quotes Stormtrap as saying: “We consider
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Fanatics, Zealots, Warmongers, and Peaceniks: Israel’s Crowded Electoral Landscape
Haneen Zoabi Due perhaps to my Jewish identity and my family’s history, Israel tends to be the country whose politics I follow most closely apart from Canada’s and the United States’. Nevertheless, there is a giant gulf separating numbers one and two from number three. My understanding of Israeli parties,
Continue readingdrive-by planet: South Africa’s ANC makes support for BDS part of official policy: ‘Roadmap to Apartheid’ released
At its 53rd National Conference, South Africa’s ruling ANC affirmed support for the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. It is now part of official ANC policy. Mbuyiseni Ndlozi of BDS South Africa welcomed the ANC move: “This reaffirmation by the ANC’s National Conference, its highest
Continue readingLeDaro: Gwynne Dyer – on Netanyahu
Gwynne Dyer is great at looking behind the headlines, providing in-depth analysis of issues in international politics. This column by Dyer provides excellent insight into the motives behind Netanyahu’s newest wave of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Settlements, the idea of which, are not so new, but rather part
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Taking the Real Measure of Netanyahu, An Arab Woman Speaks Up
There’s a new name being given to Benjamin Netanyahu’s newest illegal settlement crime. It’s being called the “Doomsday Settlement,” a term coined by the Israeli founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem, Daniel Seidemann. Nicola Nasser, an Arab journalist based in the West Bank, or at least what remains of it after years
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Two-State Twilight
For many years, I have felt that, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were an exaggeration. Yes, Israel has been unyielding in its expansion of settlements in the West Bank in clear violation of international law, effectively dividing the already-slight
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: A short quiz on the US, Israel, and ‘rogue nation’ status | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
A short quiz on the US, Israel, and ‘rogue nation’ status | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk “…So essentially, it’s the entire planet on one side, versus the US, its new right-wing poodle to the north, Israel, and three tiny, bribed islands on the other side. If
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Harper Regime Has Lost All Credibility on Foreign Affairs Period, Not Just the Middle East
“…Israel’s announcement on the settlements was widely criticized by Canada’s European allies, and even the United States, which voted with Canada and Israel against the motion to grant non-voting observer state status to the Palestinians, urged Israel to “reconsider” its decision on the settlements on Monday. Baird did not comment
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: #Palestine| #Israel to advance east Jerusalem building plans
Palestine | Israel to advance east Jerusalem building plans Why? Because for Israel, suffering from cognitive dissonance, as Shir Hever has said, the rest of the world does not matter. Because it knows it can pretty well do what it wants with impunity other than the occasional verbal scolding and a few
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: “Israel is demolishing hope”
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper is one of my favorite global publications. That’s because, on both domestic and global issues, it’s editorial policy is centre-left and refreshingly progressive. Haaretz is the place to go for an Israeli voice that’s against the apartheid-style occupation of Palestinian land and inhuman treatment of Arab citizens. Consider this title for an […]
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