Electronic Intifada : Opinion/Editorial

A glimmer of hope

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:29:56 PST

While the Obama Administration proved twice recently that it intends to continue to consider Israel above the law, there is a glimmer of hope that the people of Gaza will see justice. The massacre brought about sweeping change, across the world, in perceptions of Israel. Citizen-led mobilizations in the past few months have showed that where governments have failed, ordinary citizens can, perhaps, make a difference. Ziyaad Lunat and Max Ajl comment for The Electronic Intifada.

Israeli Jews and the one-state solution

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:40:19 PST

One of the most commonly voiced objections to a one-state solution for Palestine/Israel stems from the accurate observation that the vast majority of Israeli Jews reject it, and fear being "swamped" by a Palestinian majority. Across the political spectrum, Israeli Jews insist on maintaining a separate Jewish-majority state. Does this mean that a peaceful one-state outcome is so unlikely that Palestinians should not pursue it, and should instead focus only "pragmatic" solutions that would be less fiercely resisted by Israelis? Ali Abunimah comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Why I am not a Zionist

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:15:08 PST

I have come to realize it is actually simple and clear. I am a Jewish-American man in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Justice and resistance to imperialism is a global, human concern for all people. For Jews, yes, but not Jews alone. For Palestinians, yes, but not Palestinians alone. It will take us all to push and demand governments and corporate interests to create fair, equitable living conditions. It will take all peoples to hold history accountable for the atrocities that occur. Kevin Coval comments for The Electronic Intifada.

J Street conference only step one

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:02:49 PST

Was the recently held J Street conference the herald of an incipient peace treaty in Israel-Palestine? The supporters of the new lobby group hope so. Its name is a riff on K Street, the real Washington, DC address of many powerful lobbying firms. With a staff of 30 and a budget of millions, it has set itself up as the liberal alternative to AIPAC. Max Ajl comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Israel's anti-Semitic friends

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:07:46 PST

There can be few supporters of the Palestinians, still less anti-Zionists, who haven't, at some time or another, been accused of "anti-Semitism." Accusations that anti-Zionism equals anti-Semitism have become little more than a ritual exercise in defamation. Tony Greenstein comments for The Electronic Intifada.

What does China's ascendance mean for Palestine?

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:17:23 PST

George Habash, the late leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), called China Palestine's "best friend." Indeed, he was on an official PFLP visit to China when the conflict between Palestinian forces and the Hashemite Kingdom erupted in Jordan in 1970, the events later known as "Black September." However, if there are actors today hoping that China might offer an alternative to US hegemony and pushing the international community into a more just position on Palestine, it is not likely to happen soon -- if ever. Sarah Irving analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.

Why I disrupted Olmert

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:58:28 PST

If former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had merely been a diplomat or an academic offering a controversial viewpoint, then interrupting his 15 October speech at University of Chicago's Mandel Hall would certainly have been an attempt to stifle debate. But confronting a political leader suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity cannot be viewed the same way. Ali Abunimah comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Time for a democratic discourse

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:15:21 PST

This weekend, J Street, a new Jewish "Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace" Washington-based public action committee is holding its first national conference. The two of us, along with another artist, were scheduled to perform and read poems at several sessions during the conference. Instead, we have been censored and pushed out of that very debate. Kevin Coval and Josh Healey comment for The Electronic Intifada.

Another breach in Israel's wall of impunity

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:45:43 PST

It may be too early to hope that the Goldstone report will result directly in Israeli leaders facing trial in international courts; there are still too many opportunities for Israel and its backers to block such action. But Goldstone marks another major breach in the wall of Israeli impunity that is slowly but surely crumbling. Hasan Abu Nimah comments.

Obama's peace

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:23:13 PST

For his continued wars against Pakistanis, Afghans, and Iraqis, his support for the overthrow of democracy in Honduras, his abetting dictatorships across the Arab and Muslim worlds (which his government finances, arms and trains in torture methods), his planning for a possible invasion of Iran, and his enthusiastic support for the racist Israeli settler colony (and its colonial wars and occupations against Palestinians), US President Barack Obama received the Nobel "Peace" Prize. Joseph Massad comments.

Tony Blair and the business of covering up war crimes

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:50:25 PST

On 7 October 2009, Tony Blair gave a lecture at a New York university. In responding to an unexpectedly direct student question, he publicly joined, for the first time, the US and Israeli Zionist consensus rejecting the Goldstone report. Jim Holstun comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Is Canada more pro-Israel than the US?

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:53:34 PST

Some have commented that under Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government, Canada has become (at least diplomatically) the most pro-Israel country in the world. Israeli officials concur. After meeting Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, four other Conservative ministers and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff in July 2009, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who has openly called for the expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel, stated, "It's hard to find a country friendlier to Israel than Canada these days." Yves Engler comments for The Electronic Intifada.

The things that make for peace

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 10:49:35 PST

I continue to struggle with not being cynical about the situation in Palestine and in Gaza in particular. It is not a healthy place for me to be, spiritually or emotionally. But the Gaza Strip is a heart-breaking catastrophe in so many ways and the people there have been suffering for so long. It makes me think about the ways that we in the US are irrelevant -- in the sense that it is less about what we need to do and more about what we need to stop doing. Timothy Seidel comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Al-Walajah, a symbol of Israeli ethnic cleansing

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:20:14 PST

While American officials continue to claim that the mission of US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell is by no means over, and that he will still pursue his efforts to convince the Israeli government to agree to some sort of settlement freeze, Israeli plans for further colonization of Palestinian land continue undisturbed. The latest Israeli plans call for the destruction of the West Bank village of al-Walajah for the second time in six decades. Hasan Abu Nimah comments.

After Goldstone, Hamas faces fateful choice

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:26:55 PST

The uproar over the Palestinian Authority's (PA) collaboration with Israel to bury the Goldstone report, calling for trials of Israeli leaders for war crimes in Gaza, is a political earthquake. The whole political order in place since the 1993 Oslo accords were signed is crumbling. As the initial tremors begin to fade, the same old political structures may appear still to be in place, but they are hollowed out. This unprecedented crisis threatens to topple the US-backed PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, but it also leaves Hamas, the main Palestinian resistance faction, struggling with fateful choices. Ali Abunimah comments for The Electronic Intifada.

A poverty of leadership

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:03:51 PST

Whether or not the clumsy attempt to shelve the Goldstone report on last winter's Gaza attacks is the tipping point for Mahmoud Abbas's rule, the succession process has been underway for several years. However, it is being coordinated by the US and Israel and is no reflection of the wishes and desires of the Palestinian people. Abbas's likely successor is Salam Fayyad, who somehow manages to be an even more uninspiring and unpopular character. Osamah Khalil comments for The Electronic Intifada.

UN must act on Goldstone and the PA must be dissolved

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:11:47 PST

Succumbing to US pressure and unabashed Israeli blackmail, Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Ramallah Palestinian Authority (PA), was reportedly personally responsible for the decision to defer UN Security Council consideration of the Goldstone report. This dashed the hopes of Palestinians everywhere as well as those of international human rights organizations and solidarity movements, that Israel would finally face a long overdue process of legal accountability and that its victims would have a measure of justice.

Time to re-engage with people power

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:24:01 PST

Bereft of any credible or legitimate leadership, the Palestinian people will have to look to themselves to continue their struggle for freedom, justice and equality. Indeed, their struggle has been at its best, for example, during the first intifada of the 1980s, when the official leadership -- at the time in exile in Tunis -- was actually least involved in it. Saree Makdisi comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Abbas helps Israel bury its crimes in Gaza

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:56:30 PST

Just when it seemed that the Ramallah Palestinian Authority and its leader Mahmoud Abbas could not sink any lower in their complicity with Israel's occupation of the West Bank and the murderous blockade of Gaza, Ramallah has dealt a further stunning blow to the Palestinian people. The Abbas delegation to the United Nations in Geneva (officially representing the moribund Palestine Liberation Organization) abandoned a resolution requesting the Human Rights Council to forward Judge Richard Goldstone's report on war crimes in Gaza to the UN Security Council for further action. Ali Abunimah comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Answering critics of the boycott movement

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:10:39 PST

The list of successful boycott, divestment and sanctions actions has now become too long to list, yet, there are still many out there who do not believe in this movement and have reservations on a number of grounds, offering two main concerns that are rarely tackled, and when they are it is only cursory. The first is the criticism of why a boycott movement against Israel and not countries like China, Sudan or the US. The second concerns the argument that boycott is against dialogue. Sami Hermez comments for The Electronic Intifada.