RSS Feeds
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it    
Commentary

TitleDescriptionDate
Israel’s Lost ChanceAluf Benn--SEVEN months into the Arab Spring, Israel’s leaders are getting over their initial alarm and confusion about how to react, and have begun to embrace the region’s new uncertainty. Increasingly, they see it as a diplomatic opportunity to affirm Israel’s importance to its traditional friends. [dn]30/7/2011
...
View from Jerusalem with Harriet Sherwood Harriet Sherwood--Government alarm at citizens` revolt as tent protests spreadAnger over rising prices is fuelling `Israeli Summer` and generating widespread support for action dn30/7/2011
...
The case for a boycottSamah Sabawi - Al-Ahram Weekly "The principled Israeli left camp, which respects equal rights for all, the UN-sanctioned rights of Palestinian refugees, and an end to colonial oppression should ď and indeed does ď invest its time challenging its governmentĺs apartheid policies and oppression of the Palestinians, rather than criticising the Palestinian non-violent resistance model that encompasses BDS." ca 29/7/2011
...
Europe`s Homegrown Terrorists Gary Younge - The Nation - Then came the fact that the terrorist was actually a white, Christian extremist and a neo-Nazi, Anders Breivik, raging against Islam and multiculturalism. Unlike Muslims in the wake of Islamist attacks, Christians weren’t called upon to insist upon their moderation. No one argued that white people had to get with the Enlightenment project. But the bombings—and the presumptions about who was responsible—suggest that the true threat to European democracy is not Islam or Muslims but, once again, fascism and racists. 28/7/2011
Israeli left’s awakening too little, too lateRaja Shehadeh - The Electronic Intifada - Now that it has become accepted throughout the world that the presence of Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands occupied in 1967 constitutes the most serious obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state, the left in Israel seems to have woken up from its long slumber. As part of their struggle against the boycott law they have submitted a challenge against its constitutionality to the Israeli high court. 28/7/2011
Palestine and Israel 10 years from today RAY HANANIA - J-Post - "Israel will have built 120 more settlements in the West Bank, removed all Arabic texts from West Bank road signs, and built a second wall, squeezing Palestinians into three separate regions." - id 27/7/2011
...
Israeli housing protest makes no connection to the occupationAziz Abu Sarah - +972 - The current Israeli government�s focus on improving living standards in settlements and neglect of the rest of the Israel is a moral failure25/7/2011
...
As parents, we share the responsibility for the housing crisisAkiva Eldar - Haaretz - Do the young people who marched Saturday night from Habima Square need to ask where we, their parents, were when the politicans sold the country out from under them?25/7/2011
...
Norway, Islam and the threat of the West Ibrahim Hewitt--Dismissing this murderous act as the work of "a lone madman" ignores a more detailed study of the killer`s motivation. dn24/7/2011
...
Fighting for Israel’s soulEsti Ahronovitz--The president of the New Israel Fund, Naomi Chazan, who has been vilified by the right, refuses to surrender, saying the current battle is for the very soul of Israel. [dn]24/7/2011
...
Jaffa belongs to all its residents, Jews and ArabsHaaretz Editorial--The Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality must move ahead on the task of naming streets after Arab public figures, especially streets where most of the residents are Arab. dn24/7/2011
...
Jerusalem & Babylon / Two cheers for democracy Anshel Pfeffer--There was nothing surprising about most of the names on the list of American Jewish groups that criticized the anti-free speech, anti-boycott law the Knesset passed last week. They were from the liberal left of the U.S. Jewish establishment, as you would expect, but they didn`t get there first. Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman, usually a Pavlovian cheerleader for Israeli policy, of whatever government happens to be in power, was this time the first Jewish Diaspora leader to raise his voice. He issued a statement saying that the law "may unduly impinge on the basic democratic rights of Israelis to freedom of speech and freedom of expression." It seemed almost too much to hope for, but the venerable ADL still occasionally remembers the ideals it was founded to protect. dn24/7/2011
...
Israeli law constrains free speech, says New York Times Greenslade Blog--Israeli law constrains free speech, says New York Times The Israeli government has been accused of violating the right to free expression by approving a law that penalises individuals and organisations that call for boycotts against Israel. 24/7/2011
...
The Israeli right fears for the dreamBradley Burston - Haaretz - ""I say to you - remember this: In another six months time, the trend will be reversed. The public, just as it has come to accept everything that we in Yisrael Baiteinu have furthered, parliamentary inquiry commissions to investigate the funding sources of NGOs will become part of the national consensus."" - id 22/7/2011
...
Israeli society mounts resistance to assault on democracy Dahlia Scheindlin - +972 - "What was the birth of our state worth if it failed to guarantee us a democracy?" - id 22/7/2011
...
Freedom of expression subverted in Israel, US : Both the US Congress and Israel`s Knesset have passed profoundly anti-democratic measures in recent months.William A. Cook - Aljazeera - Curiously, the US does not have a newspaper as brave and open to civil discourse as Haaretz. Instead, we rely on the New York Times, infamous for promoting the Iraq war on its front page, thus benefiting the war industry and its corporations that control Congress. Yet Congress, like its twin in Israel, has adopted similar anti-democratic resolutions that curtail freedom of speech and action not only of American citizens, but also of the representatives of the United Nations. 21/7/2011
MPs reject bill to probe `anti-Israeli` NGOsMa`an News Agency - Rejected by a vote of 57 to 28, it called for the establishment of parliamentary inquiry committees to investigate foreign funding of left-wing non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Introducing the bill to the Knesset, Yisrael Beitenu MP Faina Kirshenbaum accused such NGOs on Wednesday of helping groups who actively sought to harm Israel. 21/7/2011
MK Danny Danon is the new McCarthyGideon Levy - Haaretz - Like Likud MK Danny Danon, McCarthy built his whole career on investigative committees, exactly like the one Danon tried to establish and appoint himself head of yesterday. Now find the differences. There aren`t any21/7/2011
...
Who`s afraid of the boycott Miri Weingarten - Open Democracy - the boycott law for the first time enables an open and honest discussion of the possibility of nonviolent civil disobedience, boycott and disinvestment - measures that have been taboo for too long. 21/7/2011
Ordinary PeopleAya Kaniuk - Mahsanmilim - No longer the State, says the list, nor the army, nor the Occupation, nor top brass, and “everyone” nor “we” but the soldier him/herself. And this normal ordinary soldier, says the list, has a name. A proper name. And with that personal, proper name comes personal responsibility. And personal guilt. And a personal appellation. War criminal. 21/7/2011
Knesset Stifles Voice of Israeli-Palestinian MKRichard Silverstein - Tikun Olam - What the Likud dominated Knesset is doing is a slow auto da fe of Zoabi’s democratic rights as a member. It is shameful. It is anti-democratic. But alas it is entirely typical of latter day Israel. Or at least its political system. 21/7/2011
Siegman: Israel always wanted territory not peace, and US is its ‘captive’Philip Weiss - Mondoweiss - The reality is that Israeli governments — even before Bibi Netanyahu — have opted for territory over peace. From the very beginning in 1967, Israel’s goal has been to prevent a border being drawn between them and the West Bank. The goal has been to retain permanent control over the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli governments — and especially the current one — believe that peace is not nearly as important as territory 21/7/2011
Crucial Time for Israeli DemocracyJessica Montell - B`Tselem - The ink was barely dry on this stain on the law books, when the Knesset resurrected the initiative to establish a parliamentary inquiry into the funding and activities of organizations that “delegitimize the Israeli military,” in the words of its initiators. While this proposal failed to pass today, with a 57 to 28 vote, other anti-democratic legislation remains on the docket, including a bill which would restrict contributions from foreign governments to human rights organizations in Israel21/7/2011
Dangerous logic Ada Ushpiz - Haaretz - ""Principled" legislation is the death of the need to convince, of dialogue, pluralism, thought, morality and personal beliefs - all that is the soul of being principled." - id 20/7/2011
...
Palestine: the flags are already waving but will a declaration of statehood help? Harriet Sherwood - Guardian - "Fayyad has publicly stated that the preparatory work will be completed and the PA will be in position to launch a state by 26 August, less than six weeks away." - id 20/7/2011
...
Israel’s war on nonviolent protestJonathan Cook - EI - "“What is a peace activist or Palestinian allowed to do to oppose the occupation? Is there anything you agree to?”" - id 20/7/2011
...
Samah Sabawi: a Palestinian woman’s response to Naomi Chazan on BDSOfer Neiman Introduction--[Introduction to Samah Sabawi`s piece by Ofer Neiman] There are good things to be said about Professor Naomi Chazan, a scholar of contemporary Africa and a former member of the Israeli Knesset (on behalf of the center-left Meretz party). When an extreme right-wing and US funded Israeli student group like "Im Tirtzu" runs a venomous campaign against her, smearing her (in the Israeli public eye) as "Naomi Goldstone-Chazan", it is safe to assume she has been getting some things right. Indeed, signing a petition in demand of an "immediate halt to the attack carried out in Gaza by Israeli forces", just one day after Israel began its "Operation Cast Lead" war on Gaza`s inhabitants in December 2008, was not a consensus act in her rather mainstream political circles. Prof. Chazan is also the president of the New Israel Fund (NIF). This self-proclaimed "leading organization committed to equality and democracy for all Israelis" has supported, through funding and consultation, numerous Israeli NGOs whose goals are to promote the rights of various minorities and disenfranchised groups in Israel. dn 17/7/2011
...
Red Rag Weekly ColumnGideon Spiro - A long way to go - Boycott Law - Mitzna and Peretz - Ayoub Kara - Southern Sudan16/7/2011
Opinion: Co-Resistance vs. Co-ExistenceBy Maath Musleh - Ma`an News Agency "We have to be open about the subject now more than ever. We have to set the standards for our co-resistance. Yes we do co-operate with the Jewish citizens of the State of Israel. But the standards of this co-operation are clear. We work together with every Israeli that opposes Zionism and fully recognizes the Palestinian rights, freedom, equality, and the right of the return. " ca 15/7/2011
...
Commentary: Holding the rope at both endsRamzy Baroud - Al-Ahram Weekly "If you happen to be a Palestinian government employee, chances are you will receive only half your usual salary this month. The other half will only be available when international donors find it in their hearts to make up for the huge shortage of funds currently facing the Palestinian Authority (PA)." ca 15/7/2011
...
Bold strategic thinking neededJames Zogby - Al-Ahram Weekly "As it currently stands, the Israeli-Palestinian problem is too big and too deep to be solved by pretending that simple negotiations can fix things. Neither side is in a position to negotiate, and the US team doesn`t appear to have a creative thought that can help change this situation." ca 15/7/2011
...
A Palestinian woman’s response to Israel’s Naomi Chazan on BDS (recommended reading)Although she presented herself as a veteran Israeli peace activist, Chazan’s mission here in Australia was ostensibly to promote NIF. This is important because everything she said about BDS must be understood within the context of her mission – to gather funds and support and to convince Jews in Australia of the need to continue to invest in Israel through NIF. This clear conflict of interest makes Chazan’s criticism of BDS far less credible.17/7/2011
The Palestinians only have one option nowAdrian Hamilton - The Independent - The Palestinian threat to go to the UN in September and demand recognition as a separate state has proved the one diplomatic weapon in their armoury that has unnerved the Israeli government and upset the Americans. Both of whom – with some European support – are doing their utmost to head it off on the tired old grounds that it is "unproductive". 14/7/2011
Israel`s boycott law: The quiet sound of going fascistBradley Burston - Haaretz - This is the one. This is where the slope turns nowhere but down. When the Knesset passed the boycott law, it changed the history of the state of Israel. 14/7/2011
...
Analysis: Did our leaders take a bite too big to chew?Nidal Alayasa - Ma`an News Agency - There are two items on the to-do list of all the Palestinian political entities (for lack of a better and more conclusive term). Firstly, establishing the unity of the Hamas state in Gaza with the Fatah state in the West Bank; and secondly, declaration of the Palestinian state and proposing it to the UN Security Council. 14/7/2011
Israeli Kindergarten Teachers To Raise Flag And Sing Anthem Every WeekKevin Murphy - IMEMC and Agencies - Reacting to the news, which comes during a long line of controversial Israeli laws aimed at suppressing dissent in Israeli society including the Boycott and Nakba laws, Prof. Gabi Solomon of the University of Haifa, an Israel Prize laureate for education, said that "it looks like a competition between members of the Likud to see who can push us faster into the arms of fascism". 14/7/2011
Everything you (never) wanted to know about Israel’s anti-boycott law :A reader’s guide to democracy’s dark hourNoam Sheizaf - +972 Magazine - Basically, the anti-boycott law allows all those who feel they have been harmed by a boycott, whether against Israel or an Israeli institution or territory (i.e. the settlements in the West Bank) to sue the person or organization who publicly called for it, for compensation. This definition is very broad—even a simple call not to visit a place falls under it—and most important, the prosecutor plaintiff doesn’t even have to prove damages. 14/7/2011
Knesset study: No democracy has similar anti-boycott lawsJoseph Dana - +972 Magazine - Some claim that the Israeli anti-boycott bill is similar to anti-boycott measures in other democratic countries. A Knesset fact finding commission found that there are similar anti-boycott measures in countries like Venezuela and Eritrea but could not find anything similar in another democracy. 14/7/2011
Abir Aramin was shot in the head, but nobody shot herNurit Peled-Elhanan - On Sunday 10 July 2011, 8 Tammuz, the legal seal of approval was given to the book The King�s Torah [1] by Israel`s High Court of Justice, which ruled that the child Abir Aramin, age 10, was struck by a bullet that came from an unknown rifle fired by unknown soldiers or police.14/7/2011
Things You Can Say, Things You CannotRan HaCohen - AntiWar - "The “only democracy in the Middle East” openly joins the “democracies” around it — when some of these “democracies” try to become democracies. We lag behind. Or better: we are moving backwards. Very rapidly." - id 13/7/2011
...
Israelis, Palestinians must unite to end occupationYitzhak Laor - Haaretz - "Whatever happens in the future, the struggle against the occupation must be binational and conducted by anyone who rejects its legitimacy." - id 13/7/2011
...
Netanyahu, the purveyor of hatred Akiva Eldar - Haaretz - The campaign to promote the idea that the Palestinians are delegitimizing the "existence of Israel" has turned the critics of the right-wing government into Israel-haters11/7/2011
...
Instilled MemoryUri Avnery - Gush Shalom - "So let us start to behave like sane people. Let the little boats go to Gaza. Let arrivals at Ben-Gurion airport go to the Palestinian territories and pick olives, if that’s what they want. Even if we do behave like a normal nation, Israel will continue to exist. Really!" 11/7/2011
...
Empathy toward the Palestinian side invokes hatred and distrustYael Sterhell--Empathy toward the Palestinian side invokes hatred and distrust The anger at Israelis who support Palestinian independence resembles the treatment of whites who supported the black civil rights movement. dn 10/7/2011
...
US collusion in the Gaza blockade is an affront to human rightsCindy Corrie--When Greek authorities prevented the US ship the Audacity of Hope leaving its port in Athens this week, they dealt a blow to a group of brave and principled Americans who were trying to carry thousands of letters from US citizens to those who wait on Gaza`s shores. dn10/7/2011
...
On Flotillas and the Law[forwarded by Esther] Lawrence Davidson--Part I - Civil Society Movements vs. Corrupt Politics When it comes to the struggle against Israel`s policies of oppression there are two conflicting levels: that of government and that of civil society. The most recent example of this duality is the half dozen or so small ships held captive in the ports of Greece. The ships, loaded with humanitarian supplies for the one-and-a-half million people of the Gaza strip, are instruments of a civil society campaign against the inhumanity of the Israeli state. The forces that hold them back are the instruments of governments corrupted by special-interest influence and political bribery. [dn]9/7/2011
...
A critical look at Israeli militarismMichael Sfard--In a fascinating and ground-breaking study, Yagil Levy suggests that there`s no clear contradiction between the civilian echelon playing a larger role as watchdog of the army and the growing dominance of a militaristic ethos in Israeli society. [dn]9/7/2011
...
Open Rabin`s grave By Yossi Sarid - Haaretz "Murdered and buried, at least six feet under. Even a criminal gunned down in an underworld vendetta merits a more serious investigation. Although the gunman was tried and imprisoned, those who supported him are walking around free and self-satisfied among us, and are continuing to cause harm as they did in the past. Having replaced Rabin, they are being fruitful and multiplying and inheriting the land." ca8/7/2011
...
America’s attempted Quartet sophistryDaniel Levy - Foreign Policy - Paradoxically, the Palestinian embrace of a new more assertive and proactive strategy that America so fears may even be accelerated if the Quartet ploy carries the day. 26/7/2011
...
Israel`s ban on boycotts faces legal challenge from civil rights groupsHarriet Sherwood - Guardian - "The passing of the law late on Monday night prompted a wave of criticism and condemnation in the Israeli press, with one eminent law professor describing it as "the blackest day in Knesset [Israeli parliament] history"." - id 13/7/2011
...
Why the Left shouldn’t take boycott law to the High CourtYossi Gurvitz - +972 - "This fig leaf, which allows Israel to act as an intolerant ethnocracy while pretending to be the only democracy in the Middle East, must be discarded." id 13/7/2011
...
In Israel, a Tsunami Warningby Noam Chomsky - Truthout | Op-Ed "In May, in a closed meeting of many of Israel`s business leaders, Idan Ofer, a holding-company magnate, warned, "We are quickly turning into South Africa. The economic blow of sanctions will be felt by every family in Israel."8/7/2011
The power of face-to-face encounters between Israelis and PalestiniansYonatan Gur - Common Ground News Service - The real test of the movement for change that is bubbling throughout the web is whether each and every one of us then switches off the computer and marches to the town square. When we finally meet face-to-face and raise our voices together to chant, that’s when change will happen. 7/7/2011
The Netanyahu threatYigal Sarna - Ynet - "A horrifying report about what’s about to happen. A tale of loss of control; a confused leader incapable of taking proper decisions. Rumors about movement towards the abyss." - id 6/7/2011
...
‘Lord of the Flies’ mentality plagues Palestinians RAY HANANIA - J-Post - "Even Al Jazeera is feeding extremism, attacking other countries but not its sponsor, Qatar. Are Arabs supposed to accept these hypocrisies and double standards without challenge? No." - id 6/7/2011
...
IDF officers to hide their identity for fear of arrests abroadYossi Gurvitz - +972 (quoting Ma`ariv) - IDF officers will hide their identity in an attempt to protect themselves from prosecution when going abroad. A senior officer told Maariv this is done in order to “protect the officers from the legal point of view.” 5/7/2011
...
Siege of Gaza has become a moral blockade of IsraelYitzhak Laor - Haaretz - Slowly but surely, in a world filled with injustice and war crimes and racism toward minorities and migrants, Israel has learned how to become the symbol of these crimes, the symbol of injustice. 5/7/2011
...
Red Rag Weekly ColumnGideon Spiro - Licenced to kill - Gilad Shalit: 5 years - scaring the people - circumcision5/7/2011
The Jewish Ayatollahs Uri Avnery - Gush Shalom - "The archbishop of New York announces that any Catholic who rents out an apartment to a Jew commits a mortal sin and runs the risk of excommunication. A protestant priest in Berlin decrees that a Christian who employs a Jew will be banished from his parish. Impossible? Indeed. Except in Israel – in reverse, of course" 4/7/2011
...
The blockade is the problemHaaretz Editorial - The economic pressure of the blockade has not brought about moderation in Hamas` positions, and stopping protesters en route to Gaza will not change the military balance4/7/2011
...
Hillary`s Return to the Middle East - At the Expense of GazaRamzy Baroud - CounterPunch - "Now Clinton is back, speaking in a lucid language which leaves no room for misinterpretation. When it comes to the security and interests of Israel – as opposed to those of the entire Middle East region and all its nations – Clinton, like other top American officials, leaves no room for error. Israel will always come first. Clinton`s forceful language was triggered by the decision of humanitarian activists from over 20 countries to travel to Gaza in a symbolic gesture to challenge the Israeli blockade of one of the poorest regions on earth"4/7/2011
...
Israeli right-wingers, you`re in control, so stop whiningGideon Levy - Haaretz - The right-wing assumption that the left controls Israel`s major political institutions could not be further from the truth4/7/2011
...
Return to SusyaKate Laycock--To a visitor from Europe, the Palestinian village of Susya should feel strange and alien. After all, it is a tent-dwelling community living in one of the most deprived and difficult areas of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Life here is tough. Water shortages, an intrusive military presence and the constant threat of demolition are facts of everyday life. Nevertheless, it feels like home. [dn]3/7/2011
From the US Boat to Gaza: A July Fourth Shame on the FoundersRay McGovern--Ret. US Army Colonel Ann Wright, 64, from Honolulu, chants slogans as she and other activists rally in protest outside the U.S. embassy in Athens, Greece, Friday, July 1, 2011. The activists hope to join an international flotilla and to sail to Gaza.Indignities experienced by me and my co-guests on “The Audacity of Hope,” the American boat to Gaza, over the past ten days in Athens leave no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama’s administration has forfeited the right to claim any lineage to the brave Americans who declared independence from the king of England 235 years ago.[dn]3/7/2011
...
Law of the jungleSaleh Al-Naami - Al-Ahram "Israeli human rights groups have revealed that Israeli judicial and police agencies exercise blatant discrimination between Palestinians and Jewish settlers, in a way that promotes continued attacks on Palestinians. According to a report by the Israeli group "�There is Law", some 99.7 per cent of charges against Palestinians in Israeli military tribunals result in guilty verdicts. Meanwhile, only 10 per cent of complaints by Palestinian citizens in the West Bank filed with Israeli police about attacks by Jewish settlers result in charges against perpetrators. Some 90 per cent of these complaints conclude without any charges." ca 1/7/2011
...
United States Fails to Stand for Peaceful ChangeIvan Eland - Antiwar - "The United States regularly decries violence in Palestine but then is not supportive of peaceful means of Palestinian protest either." - id22/7/2011
...
Confused Strategy - How the PA Sold Out Palestinian UnityRamzy Baroud - CounterPunch - "Being a guardian of Palestinian national interests and simultaneously satisfying Israel`s political interests and US expectations is an impossible feat. That enigma has almost always been settled at the expense of the Palestinians themselves. The latest casualty has been the unity deal signed between Hamas and the PA`s ruling party, Fatah, in Egypt on April 27"18/7/2011
...
Knesset Passes Bill Making It Illegal to Advocate Boycotts of Goods Produced in Israeli Settlements - Israel`s Growing CrackdownNeve Gordon - CounterPunch - "[Israeli legislators’] strategy, it appears, is to wait until the Court annuls the new laws and then to use the public`s dismay with the Court`s decisions to limit the Court`s authority through legislation, thus making it impossible for judges to cancel unconstitutional laws. Once the High Court`s authority is severely ham-stringed, the road will be paved for right-wing Knesset members to do as they wish. The process leading to the demise of Israeli democracy may be slow, but the direction in which the country is going is perfectly clear"18/7/2011
...
CIA veteran: Israel to attack Iran in fall MJ Rosenberg--The Israeli security establishment is increasingly worried by Netanyahu`s bellicose stance towards Iran. dn17/7/2011
...
Contradiction be damned_Colonel Pinky`s Last StandHatim Kanaaneh--The last session of the Rachel Corrie court case in Haifa had been repeatedly postponed on account of the weightiness of the witness. Colonel Pinhas Zuaretz, better known by his nickname, Pinky, was the commanding officer of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade at the time the late peace activist was killed. I decided to display my solidarity with my fellow countryman, to wear my heart on my sleeve so to speak. Lacking pink in my wardrobe I donned the loudest Aloha shirt I had with large off-pink flowery pattern. Pinky turned out to be weighty indeed: a rotund, dark-skinned, middle-aged man with closely cropped salt-and-pepper scalp, thick black eyebrows and bulldoggish jowls. Despite the reassurance of our shared Semitic features, his presence evoked in me the same gut-level discomfort I had always sensed whenever seeing Ariel Sharon or our current foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman. dn17/7/2011
...
Israel is fulfilling settlers` expansionist dreamZvi Bar`el--As in Syria, Israel is quickly progressing to a situation in which the minority controls the majority. dn17/7/2011
...
Israelis cannot make the Gaza reality disappearHenning Mankell--I admit I overestimated the strength of Greece’s democracy. Or let me put it this way: I didn’t see how thin the varnish of what we call Israeli democracy really is. dn17/7/2011
...
Israel lost flotilla warAsaf Gefen - Ynet - It appears that the current flotilla was meant to present Israel`s stupidity. At this time already, when it`s still unclear whether the ships shall arrive, it appears that this objective had been fully achieved. bz2/7/2011
...
BDS Will free both the oppressed and the oppressorRachel Giora--On June 27, the bill "to protect the state of Israel from damage caused by boycott” was approved by the Knesset`s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee for second and third readings in the plenum. The bill passed its first reading in the Knesset plenum on March 7, 2011, despite severe criticism from governmental ministries, the legal advisor of the Ministry of Justice, and leading civil society organizations. Regardless, Israel is determined to resist international pressure even at the cost of extreme penalties for legitimate, non-violent means used by citizens to protest government policies, such as the refusal of Israeli artists to perform in a theatre located in an Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory. The bill will become law when its second and third readings take place early in July. [dn]2/7/2011
...
Red Rag: Fascism transcends bordersGideon Spiro - Fascism in Norway and elsewhere - Social revolution? Milchan, nuclear pimp - Kindergarten patriotism - That`s the Left? Health care in crisis 31/7/2011
Death Penalty: A State of Assassins !!Sami the Bedouin--Posted on September 20, 2009 by Sami, the bedouin. There’s a worldwide debate over the “legality” of Death Penalty, Execution or Capital Punishment as it is referred to in the different legal systems. There are people and organizations who support capital punishment and even with increasing its rates and the legislation that widens its range alleging that it deters and reduce capital crimes within the society. However, others, people and organizations are against it and fighting and campaigning to stop it as an inhuman way of punishing individuals for committing crimes and offenses that the whole society is responsible for. [dn]31/7/2011
...
The sham solidarity of Israel’s Zionist leftBudour Youssef Hassan--The term solidarity — much like co-existence — is so overused in the liberal Zionist discourse as to render it meaningless. The misconception of solidarity raises the question: what does solidarity mean and, more specifically, when can an act carried out by Israelis in the name of supporting Palestinians be considered an act of true solidarity? [dn] 31/7/2011
...
Say yes to pink, no to pinkwashRadically Blonde--Dance me to the end of the revolution--In the last couple of years, I have had the growing feeling that the main struggle of the LGBT community in Israel, or to be exact the main struggle done in the name of the LGBT community in Israel, is the Israeli Hasbara diplomatic struggle. [dn]31/7/2011
...
In case of a war, we should resistYossi Gurvitz - +972 - Netanyahu’s magic hat is emptying quickly. Unlike his last term, he failed in buying the students for a few slices of plzza, and his attempt to preempt the “stroller protest” by parents, planned for today, was particularly pathetic. With not many cards left to play, his way out may be a war. bz30/7/2011
...
Netanyahu missed the uprising right under his noseYoel Marcus - Haaretz - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was so busy trying to improve the intelligence about this year`s flotilla taking shape in Mediterranean ports that he didn`t see what has happening right under his nose. bz 30/7/2011
...
A Strike Against Free Speech Ahmad Tibi - New York Times - The Israeli Parliament’s antiboycott legislation is an unprecedented effort to undercut nonviolent resistance to Israeli oppression. Many people believe that making nonviolence more difficult will make violence inevitable. I do not. Approving such irresponsible and reactionary legislation highlights Israel’s long decades of injustice to Palestinians and hands us something of a political victory. bz30/7/2011
...
Why the Quartet failedYossi Alpher, Akiva Eldar, Ghassan Khatib and Nagi Shurrab - Bitter Lemons - on the dismal failure of the "Middle East Quartet" (US, UN, EU and Russia) to formulate a position which could present a viable alternative to the intended Palestinian move in September. 19/7/2011
...
Canada clamps down on criticism of Israel Jillian Kestler-DAmours--Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a staunch supporter of Israeli policy, has described criticism of Israeli as a form of "new anti-Semitism". dn23/7/2011
...
The Charge of the New York Times or - Baksheesh for the Doorkeeper Uri Avnery - Israel has become a kind of Kafkaesque doorkeeper to the world’s sole remaining superpower. [bz] 23/7/2011
...
September’s Spring Uri Savir - Jerusalem Post - We should not view September through binoculars fixed on the hall of the UN General Assembly; but with our bare eyes on the squares of Arab cities. (...) The September tsunami is avoidable, and avoiding it is up to us. [bz]23/7/2011
...
The PA and PLO are flirting with irrelevancy : Statehood for Palestine is only one of many steps the PA/PLO must take to achieve true independence.Noura Erakat - Aljazeera - For the statehood bid to be significant for Israel, for the United states, and for the Palestinian people, it must be part of a much larger reorientation in strategy and aims. At the centre of such a shift, the PA/PLO must be ready to take its lead from the bottom. 28/7/2011
Articles Archive
Current Articles
1/2024
12/2023
11/2023
10/2023
9/2023
8/2023
7/2023
6/2023
5/2023
4/2023
3/2023
2/2023
1/2023
12/2022
11/2022
10/2022
9/2022
8/2022
7/2022
6/2022
5/2022
4/2022
3/2022
2/2022
1/2022
12/2021
11/2021
10/2021
9/2021
8/2021
7/2021
6/2021
5/2021
4/2021
3/2021
2/2021
1/2021
12/2020
11/2020
10/2020
9/2020
8/2020
7/2020
6/2020
5/2020
4/2020
3/2020
2/2020
1/2020
12/2019
11/2019
10/2019
9/2019
8/2019
7/2019
6/2019
5/2019
4/2019
3/2019
2/2019
1/2019
12/2018
11/2018
10/2018
9/2018
8/2018
7/2018
6/2018
5/2018
4/2018
3/2018
2/2018
1/2018
12/2017
11/2017
10/2017
9/2017
8/2017
7/2017
6/2017
5/2017
4/2017
3/2017
2/2017
1/2017
12/2016
11/2016
10/2016
9/2016
8/2016
7/2016
6/2016
5/2016
4/2016
3/2016
2/2016
1/2016
12/2015
11/2015
10/2015
9/2015
8/2015
7/2015
6/2015
5/2015
4/2015
3/2015
2/2015
1/2015
12/2014
11/2014
10/2014
9/2014
8/2014
7/2014
6/2014
5/2014
4/2014
3/2014
2/2014
1/2014
12/2013
11/2013
10/2013
9/2013
8/2013
7/2013
6/2013
5/2013
4/2013
3/2013
2/2013
1/2013
12/2012
11/2012
10/2012
9/2012
8/2012
7/2012
6/2012
5/2012
4/2012
3/2012
2/2012
1/2012
12/2011
11/2011
10/2011
9/2011
8/2011
7/2011
6/2011
5/2011
4/2011
3/2011
2/2011
1/2011
12/2010
11/2010
10/2010
9/2010
8/2010
7/2010
6/2010
5/2010
4/2010
3/2010
2/2010
1/2010
12/2009
11/2009
10/2009
9/2009
8/2009
7/2009
6/2009
5/2009
4/2009
3/2009
2/2009
1/2009
12/2008
11/2008
10/2008
9/2008
8/2008
7/2008
6/2008
5/2008
4/2008
3/2008
2/2008
1/2008
12/2007
11/2007
10/2007
9/2007
8/2007
7/2007
6/2007
5/2007
4/2007
3/2007
2/2007
1/2007
12/2006
11/2006
10/2006
9/2006
8/2006
7/2006
6/2006
5/2006
4/2006
3/2006
2/2006
1/2006
12/2005
11/2005
10/2005
9/2005
8/2005
7/2005
6/2005
5/2005
4/2005
3/2005
2/2005
1/2005
12/2004
11/2004
10/2004


Home page  back