Commentary
|
Title | | Description | Date |
Instead of Forceful Repression, Speak to Them! | | Amos Gvirtz - What we want is to create a process of "non-violent escalation" whereby the non-violent activities of one side encourage the other side to abandon violence and turn to non-violence, until we arrive at the hoped-for peace. In this context, I am happy to hear about the initiative coming from Gaza for non-violent actions in support of the Palestinian Right of Return and ending the siege of Gaza. If they succeed in bringing tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees to non-violently march toward the Israeli border and their former villages in Israel, then maybe they will finally succeed in allowing non-violent struggle to take the lead in Palestinian society` [bz] | 27/3/2018 |
|
Ron Lauder’s two-state epiphany elicits rage and condescension in Israel US Politics | | Philip Weiss -
Mondoweiss
"Liberal Zionists are over the moon about the Lauder piece, hoping
that it will spark some real change in U.S. or Israeli policy,
thanks to the intervention by “Mr. Establishment,” as Haaretz’s
Chemi Shalev calls Lauder: “the closest thing that world Jewry has
to a senior statesman who can represent the consensus of the
Diaspora as a whole.” ca | 24/3/2018 |
... |
Why I Stay in Gaza | | ATEF ABU SAIF -
New York Times
"I teach political science at Al Azhar University. My introductory
course sometimes has 200 students. When I ask them what they want to
do after graduation they say, “nothing.” When I meet former students
years after they have graduated and ask them, “what did you end up
doing?” they, too, say, “nothing.” Even the brightest ones wind up
jobless, or at least careerless, scratching a living from dirt." ca | 24/3/2018 |
... |
Israel prepares for `May Madness` | | Ben Caspit -
Al Monitor -
"The month of May is shaping up to be “May Madness,” a take on the
“March Madness” of collegiate basketball. According to Israel’s
intelligence and political echelons, President Donald Trump’s
policies will be tested in May on numerous fronts that have
implications for Israel’s national security. To these assessments one
must add the mounting rumors, mainly in the Arab world, about a
possible aerial assault — by the United States or Israel or both of
them together — against Iranian forces in Syria." - id | 21/3/2018 |
... |
In Israel of 2018, bereavement is a `lifetime achievement` | | Orly Noy -
+972 -
"Miriam Peretz’s loss, her grief, are heartbreaking, and her strength
is inspirational. But when a state gives awards for bereavement in
uniform, it nationalizes the bereavement and assigns a positive value
to death itself. It turns death into a source of pride, as long as
that death happened in the “proper” circumstances; as opposed to
Peretz’s sons, 10-year-old Abeer, the daughters of Dr. Abu al-Aish,
and young Aseel were not killed while wearing IDF uniforms on foreign
soil, but were killed as unarmed civilians in the face of one of the
most powerful armies in the world. They were martyrs on the wrong
side of the battlefield. There is no prize waiting for them or their
families. Only grief, loss, and institutional abuse." - id
| 21/3/2018 |
... |
BREAKING: Israel to Lift Military Censorship Over 2007 Bombing of Purported Syrian Nuclear Reactor | | Richard Silverstein -
Tikun Olam -
"Yes, it’s hard to believe but…for the past eleven years, no Israeli
newspaper has been able to refer directly to the IAF’s attack on the
Syrian nuclear reactor in the desert of eastern Syria, Deir ez-Zor.
It was code-named Operation Orchard; or in another variant, Operation
Arizona. Of course, every Israeli knows about the attack. But only
based on foreign reports. No Israeli reporter may do original
reporting on the bombing. They may only quote foreign news reports."
- id | 21/3/2018 |
... |
The Fake Enemy | | Uri Avnery -
Gush Shalom -
"Real friends of Israel should advise Netanyahu to make peace as long
as Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Mazen) is still around. In two weeks he will be
83 years old, and he is ailing. He is deeply committed to peace. He
has no obvious successor, and his replacement may be far, far less
moderate." - id
| 21/3/2018 |
... |
Preparations for the Nakba March: Hamas’s Cognitive Campaign | | Kobi Michael, Gabi Siboni - INSS - The Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip is heavily engaged in preparations for the “Great March of Return,” scheduled for May 14, 2018, when thousands of Gaza’s Palestinians will march toward the security fence and position themselves in tent cities along the Israeli border. Although the move aims for cognitive achievements in Palestinian and international consciousness, it confronts Israel with a challenge that involves a security-physical threat in the form of an attempt to cross the Israeli border. Israeli retaliation would cast Israel in a bad light vis-à-vis the various target audiences. Therefore, Israel must foil this Palestinian effort to organize another form of campaign against it [N.B. the `learned` writers are apparently afraid of Hamas turning to non-violence-bz]. | 20/3/2018 |
... |
Israel’s Self-Inflicted Wounds | | Ronald S. Lauder - New York Times - Over the last few years,
settlements in the West Bank on land that in any deal is likely to
become part of a Palestinian state, have continued to grow and
expand. Such blinkered Israeli policies are creating an irreversible
one-state reality. I am conservative and a Republican, and I have
supported the Likud party since the 1980s. But the reality is that
13 million people live between the Jordan River and the
Mediterranean Sea. And almost half of them are Palestinian.(...) By
submitting to the pressures exerted by a minority in Israel, the
Jewish state is alienating a large segment of the Jewish people particularly
in the United States. The
crisis is especially
pronounced among the younger generation, which is predominantly
secular. An increasing number of Jewish millennials are distancing themselves from Israel because
its policies contradict their values. The results are unsurprising:
assimilation, alienation and a severe erosion of the global Jewish
community’s affinity for the Jewish homeland. [ak] | 20/3/2018 |
... |
Forget `Son of a Dog` – Abbas` Speech Was Disconcerting for an Entirely Different Reason | | Amos Harel - Haaretz - Headlines are focusing on Palestinian
President Abbas calling US Ambassador Friedman "Son of a Dog" - but
there are much more serious and worrying aspects. Abbas is caught in
a catch-22. On the one hand, he doesn’t believe the Trump
administration can serve as a fair mediator. He regards the long
touted American Peace Plan, supposedly due to be presented in
cooperation with Israel and Saudi Arabia, as a trap designed to
force the Palestinians to unacceptable concessions. On the other
hand, he doesn`t trust Hamas and regards the Egyptian reconciliation
efforts as foredoomed - especially after last week`s attempted
assassination of Palestinian PM Hamdallah in Gaza. Abbas may react
by cutting off all Palestinian Authority funds to Gaza, making an
already very difficult situation completely untenable. [ak] | 20/3/2018 |
... |
Confederation: The One Possible Israel-Palestine Solution | | Bernard Avishai - The New York Review of Books - Today’s South Africa emerged from a system of colonial racial enslavement in a country with a unifying language and a common, if tortured, history—white farm-owners, mine-owners, and industrialists and black, native workers.
Colonial Zionist pioneers, in contrast, harmed native Palestinians by working toward Jewish cultural and economic self-sufficiency, and thus the methodical displacement of the Palestinian peasantry—which is why, at least since the Peel Commission in 1937, an arrangement like “partition” could be entertained. (...) Confederal relations had better not mean any false hope for affectionate ones. (...) A truly dignified divorce, in other words, means joint custody where what’s held in common—often what’s most precious—cannot be divided. [N.B.: In this concept the security cooperation stays on, though considered "mutual" - as will the settlements-bz] | 20/3/2018 |
... |
Like Trump, EU aids theft of Jerusalem | | David Cronin - EI - "Despite his propensity for telling lies, Trump has been more
honest on this particular dossier than the European Union and its robotic
representatives. They claim to be pursuing peace and a two-state solution,
while aiding Israeli authorities that have no interest in either objective" [ry] | 19/3/2018 |
... |
Palestinians pin hopes on Pompeo | | Shlomi Eldar -
Al-Monitor
" After Trump`s election in November 2016, Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas ordered the establishment of a think tank to examine
ways to open new channels of communication with the administration,
which was viewed from day one as being a biased, pro-Israel
mediator. Even then, Ramallah was hanging all its hopes on Pompeo.
It was a gamble, and it succeeded." ca
| 16/3/2018 |
... |
Americans have a constitutional right to boycott Israel | | Josh Ruebner -
Al-Jazeera
"AIPAC conference attendees pressed their elected officials to
support the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, sponsored by Senator Ben Cardin
(D-MD). The original, draconian version of this bill, unveiled at
last year`s AIPAC conference, proposed to jail individuals for 20
years if they advanced an international organization`s call for a
boycott of Israel, or even of products from its illegal settlements
in the occupied West Bank...It should be a no-brainer that Americans
can boycott whomever or whatever they choose without risking
governmental punishment. After all, the Supreme Court ruled that
states have no "right to prohibit peaceful political activity" such
as a boycott, which is an "expression on public issues" that "has
always rested on the highest rung of the hierarchy of First
Amendment values"." ca | 16/3/2018 |
... |
Ripping the curtains open on Israel`s targeted killings | | Yaara Shalom -
Ynet -
"Bergman painstakingly explores the numerous failed or aborted
attempts to kill PLO leader Yasser Arafat, but falls short of making
any kind of determination on whether the death of one of Israel’s
biggest foes was a natural one or foul play (the reason for that,
conversely, is the all-mighty military censor, which won’t let
Bergman even hazard an educated guess)." - id
| 14/3/2018 |
... |
Israel`s secret deportation plan faces biggest challenge yet | | Joshua Leifer -
+972 -
"Supreme Court Justice Hanan Melcer asked the state attorney how
asylum seekers can be sure they will receive what Israel is promising
them — legal status and the ability to work — if the Rwandan
government denies that any agreement exists." - id | 14/3/2018 |
... |
Chuck Schumer: Bowing and Scraping to Aipac | | Richard Silverstein -
Tikun Olam -
"“Of course, we say it’s our land, the Torah says it, but they don’t
believe in the Torah. So that’s the reason there is not peace."" - id | 14/3/2018 |
... |
To: The Associated Press and Washington Post Re: Israel’s WMD and Mordechai Vanunu | | Eileen Fleming -
The Arab Daily News -
"Because The Washington Post does not allow republishing their
article; and as this reporter’s response could die in the darkness at
The Washington Post we publish it at USA’s TheArabDailyNews.com." - id | 14/3/2018 |
... |
Netanyahu: Even in peace, the occupation will never end | | Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man -
+972
"Netanyahu has been saying this for years. In 2014, less than three
months after the collapse of the Kerry peace talks, Netanyahu stated
that “that there cannot be a situation, under any agreement, in
which we relinquish security control of the territory west of the
River Jordan.” A year after that, in 2015, Netanyahu declared that a
Palestinian state will never be established on his watch." ca
| 11/3/2018 |
... |
Chuck Schumer: Bowing and Scraping to Aipac | | Richard Silverstein —
Tikun Olam
"Sen. Chuck Schumer should join the ranks of U.S. senators who don’t
represent their constituents, but rather the largest employer or
lobby in their state. Henry Jackson, whose name is immortalized in
that neocon bastion of pro-Israel hasbara, the Henry Jackson
Society, was the “Senator from Boeing.” Schumer should henceforth
be known as the “Senator from Aipac.” The only problem: there are
so many other senators and Congress members who deserve this
honorific." ca | 9/3/2018 |
... |
I’ve Been Thinking | | Eileen Fleming -
The Arab Daily News -
"“I’ve Been Thinking” is Journalist Maria Shriver’s latest book.
Maria Shriver’s The Sunday Paper email newsletter is one of my Sunday
‘must reads’ and today’s also provided the inspiration for this
article." - id
| 7/3/2018 |
... |
Because there is Nothing | | Uri Avnery -
Gush Shalom -
"BINYAMIN NETANYAHU`S main occupation, between criminal
interrogations, is traveling abroad and meeting with the world`s
leaders. One week in Paris meeting President Macron, the next in
Moscow meeting President Putin. In between, an African country or two.
What is achieved in these multiple meetings? Well, nothing to speak
of." - id | 7/3/2018 |
... |
Paradoxes of UNRWA | | Esmat Elhalaby - Some opponents see it as a quintessential example of “humanitarian management”: a peddler of aid and promises of development that stultifies dissent. Others see it as exactly the opposite.
But UNRWA has never been simply what its detractors contend. John H. Davis, its head from 1959 to 1963, described the agency as “one of the prices—and perhaps the cheapest—that the international community was paying for not having to solve with equity the political problems of the refugees.” Davis’s realization that the fortunes of Palestinian refugees were intimately tied to U.S. support for Israel is as true now as ever.
[bz] | 6/3/2018 |
... |
In calling for end of Jewish state, Avraham Burg is painted as ‘troublemaker’ at liberal NY synagogue | | Philip Weiss -
Mondoweiss
"The most significant element of the evening was how much discomfort
the two liberal sponsors had with Burg. Here is a true aristocrat of
Israeli society (Burg has religious, Ashkenazi and political
pedigree out the yingyang, he was an interim President of Israel)
offering the most reasonable answers to Israel’s problems–
Palestinians are our equals, there is no such thing as a Jewish
democracy– and his hosts needed to distance themselves from him." ca | 2/3/2018 |
... |
Gideon Levy: The Zionist Tango: Step Left, Step Right | | Gideon Levy -
Youtube
"Speaking on the eve of the AIPAC summit in Washington DC, Haaretz
columnist Gideon Levy says that across the mainstream Israeli
political spectrum, there is no challenge to the occupation of
Palestinian land." ca | 9/3/2018 |
... |
Israel Contemplates a Future Without Netanyahu | | Ruth Margalit - The New Yorker - It is an irony of no small
proportions that Netanyahu may, in time, be viewed as the instigator
of his own undoing: by neutering political debate in Israel, he has
made the focus personal, drawing attention to the murky underside of
his governing. Assuming that he will still be at the top of his
party’s ticket, the next Israeli election will be less an open race
than a referendum on his rule. There is a common saying in Israel:
elections are not won; they are lost. With no term limits for Prime
Ministers, power is seen as the incumbent’s to lose. This is all the
more true these days, with a Prime Minister who has at least four open
investigations aimed at him.-rh | 7/3/2018 |
... |
It’s Time For AIPAC To Register As A Foreign Agent | | M.J.Rosenberg - Forward - It’s precisely this kind of overidentification that George Washington warned against in his 1796 farewell address. “Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists… betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification.” Today, Netanyahu and AIPAC (which has kept the United States government firmly behind Netanyahu’s policies) have turned Israel into a source of dissension even among American Jews. [bz] | 6/3/2018 |
... |
Who profits from keeping Gaza on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe? | | Shir Hever - +972 - Keeping Gaza on the verge of collapse keeps international
humanitarian aid money flowing to exactly where it benefits Israeli interests [ry] | 5/3/2018 |
... |
Netanyahu’s Corruption: How Israeli Journalists Project Israel’s Crimes Onto Palestinians | | Ramzy Baroud - CounterPunch - “This is also why Israelis refer to their country
as ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’. It is a defense mechanism to divert
from the fact that apartheid, racially-structured political systems are inherently
undemocratic. So, Israel resorts to belittling its neighbors to confirm its own self-
worth” [ry] | 5/3/2018 |
... |
We are the radicals: Netanyahu and the invention of terrorism | | Shoshana Gabay - The successful ideology of “war on terrorism” that the Netanyahu family formulated for the Americans in the 1970s, at the centre of which was Islam as the enemy of the West, is based on the principle of the ethnic-genetic hierarchy the family believes in. The Netanyahus’ doctrine of the sovereign being above the law and the media’s subjugation to it was already consolidated back then. | 4/3/2018 |
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