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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
Filmmaking as resistance: Hany Abu Assad’s dream of a new Palestinian cinemaJonathan Cook - jonathan-cook.net - “I want my films to put fear into Israelis. My job is to disturb their dreams, to wake them from the fantasy that there is no occupation,” says Hany Abu-Assad, a Palestinian filmmaker whose new movie, Omar, won the Jury Prize at Cannes.-rh 31/7/2013
Signs of Seriousness In Israel-Palestine Peace TalksDaoud Kuttab - Al Monitor -That the Barack Obama administration and Israel have agreed to have a US official in every meeting between the Israelis and Palestinians is seen as strengthening the Palestinian position and reflecting the constant need for an honest broker in the talks. It is unlikely that Palestinians and Israelis alone in bilateral secret talks would accomplish more than in trilateral talks-rh 31/7/2013
If ending the conflict is so important, why did Kerry choose Indyk with a record of ‘failure’? asks AP’s Matt LeePhilip Weiss - Mondoweiss " So quite apart from Ambassador Indyk, the other two parties to this, the negotiating teams, Tzipi Livni and [Yitzhak] Molho, Ms. Livni was involved in the Annapolis peace process which resulted in no agreement, Mr. Molho was involved in both of the previous George Mitchell attempts which were not good, and on the Palestinian side Mr. [Saeb] Erekat and Mr. [Nabil] Shaath have been involved in unsuccessful negotiations with the Israelis since Madrid. Can you explain to me how exactly you see this time that this cast of characters, all of whom have been at this for decades and not achieved anything, is going to make – is going to be any different?" ca31/7/2013
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Found in TranslationHAMID DABASHI - NYT "Works of philosophy — and their readers — gain in translation not just because their authors begin to breathe in a new language but because the text signals a world alien to its initial composition. Above all they gain because these authors and their texts have to face a new audience. Plato and Aristotle have had a life in Arabic and Persian entirely alien to the colonial codification of “Western philosophy” — and the only effective way to make the foreign echoes of that idea familiar is to make the familiar tropes of “Western philosophy” foreign." ca31/7/2013
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Chomsky says Europe could help Mideast talksAssociated Press - Ynet - “It’s hard to be optimistic about the new US peace initiative, but Europe could use its political and economic weight to facilitate peace if it were willing to break from American policies supporting Israel. bz30/7/2013
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The Turkey Under the Table Uri Avnery - Gush Shalom - "So, [...] in spite of all the past disappointments, let’s hope that this time real negotiations get going and lead towards peace. The alternative is too dismal to contemplate"29/7/2013
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U.S. `neutrality` on JerusalemLA Times Editorial--Menachem Zivotofsky`s parents are free to say that their son was born in Israel, but the U.S. government doesn`t have to agree. dn28/7/2013
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The bane of Israel`s existenceGideon Levy--Few Israelis have friends in the settlements or have ever visited them, yet a lot of what happens to Israel, for the better but particularly for the worse are the product of the settlements. dn28/7/2013
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License to harass asylum-seekersHaaretz Editorial--Tel Aviv’s new policy of denying business permits to Eritrean asylum-seekers, even if they have work visas, joins other measures that contravene Israel’s legal and moral obligations to this group.dn28/7/2013
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Red Rag weekly column: boycott as remedy - hope for peace? Roger Waters Gideon Spiro - An economic boycott of Israel is just what is needed, and if it is to be effective, it must come at the initiative of sovereign states, and it must apply to Israel on both sides of the Green Line.27/7/2013
Real opportunity for changeMerav Betito = Ynet - "We must say "Yes, this time there is a chance it will happen," and repeat it like a mantra, like the multiplication table our teacher asked that we remember by heart." - id24/7/2013
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EU’s principled stand on PalestineRAY HANANIA - Saudi Gazette - "If anyone invented the word “hypocrisy,” it is Israel. The Jewish state’s foreign policies are the definition of hypocrisy. And when it comes to being “unhelpful,” no one is more unhelpful than Israel." - id 24/7/2013
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The easy part of the taskAdam Keller - Crazy Country - "Anyway, the fact that we got this far proves that Secretary of State John Kerry is very stubborn." - id24/7/2013
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Officials to resume peace process that never wasRamzy Baroud - Ma`an News - Israel is in desperate need to remold its scruffy image which has resulted from too many bombs, damming evidence of war crimes, and arrogant speeches made by numerous politicians. Any `peace process` at this time would indeed do Israel`s image some good, although it will make no lasting difference.-rh 25/7/2013
EU (finally) applies own law on Israeli settlementsBill Van Esveld - Human Rights Watch - A few years ago the European Union woke up to the fact that permitting its funding to go to Israeli settlements violates not only international law, but also EU law.-rh 25/7/2013
Good soldier, bad settlerYossi Gurvitz - blog.yesh-din - “If you aren’t gone in ten minutes, I’ll call the settlers, they’ll handle you.” bz23/7/2013
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Israel-Palestinian Talks Going Nowhere, SlowlyJason Ditz - AntiWar - Both Sides Set for Failure, Leaders Hope to Squeeze Advantage Out of US Talks22/7/2013
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Despite "peace" process, Palestinian struggle continues Sergio Yahni - AIC - "The process slated to begin in Washington next week will not lead the Palestinian people to accept the dictates of the empire and a life devoid of rights. What remains is the struggle. The Palestinian people`s struggle for their rights and dignity, the struggle of the Israelis to end once and for all the apartheid regime in their country and the international and internationalist struggle to impose new political terms on Israel through boycott, divestments and sanctions"22/7/2013
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European Jews have failed their dutyAnshel Pfeffer--By not talking out about the diplomatic dangers of our occupation policies, European Jewish communities have done Israel a great disservice. dn21/7/2013
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Summer illusions of a speech that would change IsraelGideon Levy--In my dream I see Benjamin Netanyahu giving the speech of his life, which is the speech of our lives. dn21/7/2013
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Gazan suffering treated as side show to Egyptian ‘main stage act’ Pam Bailey--No matter who is president or which party rules in Egypt, the Palestinians of Gaza pay the price when turmoil reins. dn21/7/2013
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Endgame: Conditions for the success and failure of the peace processDahlia Scheindlin--What does the possibly-revived peace process John Kerry announced on Friday have going for it? dn21/7/2013
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A Conscientious Objector Poses a Challenge to the Israeli MilitaryRina Castelnuovo and ISABEL KERSHNER--“The essential problem of the Palestinian’s life is not whether he’s being smiled at at the checkpoint,” said Natan Blanc. dn21/7/2013
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Barring a miracle, Kerry`s breakthrough is bad newsLarry Derfner - +972 - Netanyahu’s goal – Palestinian surrender of their right to the occupied territories, after which he can whittle them down to accepting a piece of land here, a piece there, with the Israeli army surrounding them and controlling their borders, coast and airspace, and without their having any part of Jerusalem for a capital, nor the right to field an army or sign treaties with foreign countries. In return, Netanyahu would probably be willing to evacuate a few small settlements. bz20/7/2013
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Renewed talks: Kerry`s unlikely triumphYitzhak Benhorin - Ynet - Americans were not particularly intrigued by the news of renewed negotiations in the Middle East, knowing that while Kerry has done what many regard as the impossible, the road to reaching an actual peace accord is long and hard. bz20/7/2013
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Analysis: PA’s hesitance to jump at Kerry deal reveals Arab League’s loss of cloutHerb Keinon - Jerusalem Post - The PLO’s failure to grasp the Kerry offer is the Palestinian leadership responding to its grassroots, and the message filtering up from the grassroots is that time is on their side. bz20/7/2013
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Forget `Startup Nation,` Israel`s brand identity is occupationDaniella Peled--Israel`s efforts to market itself as a gay-friendly, villa-in-the-jungle, startup nation cannot blot out the occupation, BDS or the crushing symbolic force of the EU guidelines.dn20/7/2013
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Settlers pillaging the stateHaaretz Editorial--The funds the settlers rob from the state are added to the lands they robbed from the Palestinians. dn20/7/2013
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Is Egypt`s Media Inciting Hatred Against Palestinians?Asmaa al-Ghoul - Al Ahram Weekly “Deposed President Mohammed Morsi is originally Palestinian,” said one of the guests of a show aired on the Egyptian Al Kahera Wal Nas channel. In the video, which was disseminated on social media websites, the show’s host asked the guest to repeat the so called “important statement.” Activists commenting on the video noted that such statements are part of the wave of instigation that aims to punish the Syrians and Palestinians living in Egypt, especially those who support the Muslim Brotherhood." ca 19/7/2013
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Why doesn’t Washington get it?Azmi Ashour - Al Ahram Weekly "The Tamarod petition campaign that succeeded in the space of a couple of months in gathering more than 22 million signatures calling for early presidential elections, and the unprecedentedly huge 30 June mass demonstrations that crowned it, have proved both the Muslim Brotherhood and the US administration wrong. The question remains as to whether Washington can change. Will it overcome the cognitive gap that makes it read events in the region solely in terms of its own interests, and in accordance with which it works against the flow on the ground?" ca19/7/2013
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Military justice - Paying lip service to the rule of lawMilitary Court Watch - In his written decision, Judge Major Shahar Greenburg was highly critical of the manner in which Sergeant Major Solomon Desta, an Israeli police investigator stationed in Hebron, conducted the investigation.-rh18/7/2013
Secretary Kerry`s Mission Impossible in Israel-Palestine : Washington’s assurances that it will defend Israel no matter what it does, however objectionable, kill any hope of a two-state solution to the conflict.Henry Siegman - The Nation - Secretary of State John Kerry’s valiant exertions to renew Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are bound to fail—for precisely the same reason previous efforts have failed: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s political establishment value territory above peace, or believe they need not choose between the two because they can have both.-rh 18/7/2013
EU Moves to Cut Funds to Israeli Settler EntitiesLaurence Norman and Joshua Mitnick - The Wall Street Journal - The row comes at a key moment in often rocky ties between Israel and the EU. Next week, EU member states could fulfill a longstanding Israeli request to add the military wing of Lebanese Shi`ite group Hezbollah to its terror list. However, there are also calls within the EU for a tougher stance on Israeli settlement activities and stricter application of rules on labeling exports to the EU from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.-rh 18/7/2013
The New Israeli AmbassadorPAUL PILLAR - The National Interest - "The picture that emerges is of an aide who exhibits the bad sides of his current boss, and then some. Dermer`s writings feature characterizations of Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims and a two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that are dismissive and contemptuous." - id17/7/2013
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The Scourge of Mideast SkepticismJEREMY BEN-AMI - NYT - "What we need from those who recognize the importance of the secretary’s work is not a recounting of the reasons why this may not work, but their help in building what he has called the “great constituency for peace” and in pressing the leaders on all sides to make it a success." - id 17/7/2013
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The day Europe got Israel’s attentionNoam Sheizaf - +972 - "The guidelines, because of their non-binding nature, could remain as a relatively declarative or symbolic act. But even as such, it will be different from most of those moves that preceded it in one central aspect – it got the Israelis’ attention." - id 17/7/2013
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Ashrawi praises `significant` EU directive on settlementsMa`an - "It is thus Israel that holds the key to peace; it can either pursue the path of impunity, entitlement, and oppression, or it can relinquish the territories it occupies in 1967 and join the global community as an equal and not as a rogue state." bz16/7/2013
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The Israeli patriot’s final refuge: boycottGideon Levy--With Israel entering into another round of diplomatic inaction, the call for an economic boycott has become a patriotic requirement. dn14/7/2013
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Danger ahead: an Israel boycottHaaretz Editorial--The magnitude of the steep price Israel`s economy may be forced to pay for its continued occupation of the West Bank - and for its diplomatic inaction - is hard to overstate. dn14/7/2013
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BereavedRINA CASTELNUOVO--They are Palestinians, and they are Israelis. They have lost their sisters and brothers and children, lost them in terrorist attacks, clashes, suicide bombings and military service. dn14/7/2013
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The Yemenite Baby Affair: What if this was your child?Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber--One of Israel’s most well known journalists casts doubt on one of the most tragic affairs in the country’s history. His conclusion, reached despite self-admitted ignorance on the topic, aligns perfectly with the way the Israeli media handled of Yemenite Baby Affair from day one – glossing over evidence and unquestioningly towing the state line. dn14/7/2013
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WATCH! Sahar Vardi on refusal and Israeli societyMona Niebuhr--On 29 June the AICafe hosted young Israeli activist Sahar Vardi. Drawing on her experience with protests and joint Palestinian-Israeli activities, Sahar spoke about how she broke out of what the Israeli education system had taught her to finally refuse military service and become part of a joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle for justice. dn14/7/2013
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Red Rag weekly column: Egypt: coup or revolution? Gideon Spiro - President Morsi was democratically elected, but was his government a democratic one? Could a military coup in Israel have a positive outcome? 13/7/2013
Egypt has lost its wayYacov Ben Efrat - Challenge Magazine - The enormous rallies in Tahrir Square supporting the coup, and the rallies in support of the Muslim Brotherhood, should make it clear that one cannot ignore half a nation, and that the fighting between the two sides plays into the hands of the army. The choice is stark: either the two camps cooperate and set up a democratic regime to save Egypt, or the country will continue to rot under the burden of dictatorship for many long years. bz13/7/2013
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Syrian bid for U.N. rights body criticized, Iran withdrewLouis Charbonneau - Reuters "From the so-called Asia group, which includes the Middle East and Asia, seven countries - China, Iran, Jordan, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Vietnam - will be vying for four seats, several diplomats from the Asia group said on Wednesday.Syria attempted to run for a seat on the rights council in 2011 but withdrew due to pressure from Western and Arab states. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad`s government and rebels are locked in an increasingly sectarian civil war that has killed as many as 100,000 people, according to U.N. figures.Syria`s U.N. ambassador in New York had no comment." ca 12/7/2013
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Why do charities want to "normalize" Israeli apartheid?Jeff Handmaker - The Electronic Intifada - Van Dam argued it was “naïve” to expect Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza “without enormous pressure from the outside.” Under international law, he added, the Netherlands and the European Union were obliged to take action against Israel for its behavior. He stated that this obligation ought to mean that trade restrictions are introduced not only on products emanating from Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, but also on products from Israel itself.-rh 11/7/2013
Fighting for peaceAriela Ringel-Hoffman - Ynet - "We can see this list – as the prime minister`s associates claim – as a trick aimed at holding up the peace process, but we can also see the release of prisoners as an initial contribution to a spirit of reconciliation." - id 10/7/2013
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Saving Palestine: Part 2 and Part 3RAY HANANIA - Saudi Gazette - "The real Arab Spring comes from positive achievement, not from destructive anger, violence, protests and hatred." - id 10/7/2013
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The Arab Spring and usAdam Keller - Crazy Country - "So how will our media report on the following installments of the Egyptian saga?" - id 10/7/2013
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Colonial Deadlock or Confederation for Israel/Palestine?Oren Yiftachel - Middle East Institute - Clearly, the deadlock in Israel/Palestine is deep and complex. Still, it can be broken with determined, benign, and evenhanded international intervention in addition to the more creative approach of a Palestinian-Israeli confederation.9/7/2013
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Subversive action against the Jewish peopleZeev Sternhell--How will the Jews of the world react once it becomes clear to them that Israel is on a collision course with their very existential interests? dn7/7/2013
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What is going on in the JNF?Alona Winograd--The time has come for a review of the application of the stringent requirements of transparency to such bodies as the JNF, which are ostensibly private but operate extensively in the public arena and on the public’s behalf, or so they claim. dn7/7/2013
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The Haim Revivo racism projectGideon Levy--The new representative of Beitar Jerusalem`s owner announced last week he wouldn`t sign Arab players. dn7/7/2013
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Egypt’s morning after Richard Falk--Jubilation in Tahrir this week may resemble that of 2011, however these two revolutionary moments differ drastically. dn7/7/2013
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Susan Rubin Suleiman`s ad hominem attacks on anti-Zionist speechTerri Ginsberg [forwarded by Abraham Weizfeld]--On June 20-22, 2013, I presented a paper at the Network of European Cinema and Media Studies (NECS) annual conference, held this year in Prague, Czech Republic, on Simon Louvish`s 1974 documentary, To Live in Freedom, a compelling critical analysis of Zionism, its relationship to class stratification and racism. Well in advance of the conference, I was informed by the conference organizers that my paper had been slotted onto a panel about Holocaust film. Confused, I responded that--as per my paper proposal--my presentation involved a film concerning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, not the Holocaust, and that therefore it would be best to move it to another, more appropriate panel. The organizers refused . . . dn 7/7/2013
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Kerry’s ‘Pax Israeliana’ has failed. What next?Jeff Halper - Mondoweiss "How do we respond to Kerry? I don’t know of anyone familiar with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – across the board – who sees in the Kerry initiative anything other than an attempt to impose on the Palestinians a Pax Israeliana. In fact, neither Kerry nor his Israeli partners bother to deny it. For his part, Kerry’s main contribution to this latest incarnation of the long-moribund “peace process” is a vague $4 billion package of “incentives’" ca5/7/2013
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The army is built from both sides of Egypt’s divide – yet must now keep them apartRobert Fisk - The Independent - Morsi may have adopted the pseudo-trappings of a dictator - he certainly talked like Mubarak on Tuesday, complete with threats against the press - but he was legally elected, as he kept telling us, and legitimacy is what the army likes to claim it is defending. In 2011, the `people` were against Mubarak. Now, the `people` are against each other.-rh 4/7/2013
`Occupation will never be consistent with human rights`Matt Surrusco - +972 - when I look at laws, even in the diluted versions that eventually passed, the Nakba law, the admissions to communities law, the anti-infiltration law and the anti-boycott law – were you to ask me four and half years ago if I ever thought that such bills would become laws in this country, and everything would just go on as normal, I would think that you were exaggerating by far.-rh 3/7/2013
Official Dutch Report Calls for Break with Uncritical Approach to IsraelWillem Aldershoff - The Daily Beast - The authors recall the "historical ties and solidarity" with Israel, but stress at the same time that these "must not preclude calling it to account for violating the law."-rh 3/7/2013
Secret Israel-Palestine Talks Daoud Kuttab - Al-Monitor - The history of important deals regarding the Middle East reached in secret are many. Perhaps the most prominent is the Oslo accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, which was reached in total secrecy from US officials, Palestinian negotiators and the usually very informed Israeli media. Even the public visit by Egypt’s former President Anwar Sadat (1970-1981) to Israel was only made possible after secret Israeli-Egyptian talks in Morocco.-rh 3/7/2013
The John Kerry ShowReuven Kaminer - This "search" for the right formula for getting people to sit in the same room (...) is not what this is all about. John Kerry comes to the region in order to apply massive pressure on the "weakest link." bz2/7/2013
Precedent for Palestinians onlyMerav Betito - Ynet - Harsh sentence handed to Gan Ha`ir rapist would not have been given to affluent Israeli Jew1/7/2013
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Hasbara-Lite Films - Israeli Propaganda, With WartsLouis J. Proyect - CounterPunch - "What the film does not present is home movies made by the settlers in the West Bank as they parade around behind one or another of their fascist gang-leaders. The film comes to an abrupt halt a year or so after the 1973 war has ended, showing little interest in the occupation of Gaza or the West Bank. This would obviously risk reminding a left-of-center audience that Israel’s `political unease` is trivial in comparison to someone whose house has been demolished as part of the process of creating a new fact on the ground in Hebron or East Jerusalem"1/7/2013
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