Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Ben White
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Israel's atrocities in Gaza prompt unprecedented political fallout
“Carnage” in Gaza – “the killing of children and the slaughter of civilians”. Not the words of a Palestinian spokesperson but rather French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Australia’s FM Julie Bishop condemned what she called “shocking” and “indefensible” incidents, with “hundreds of innocent people” killed. Just two examples of how...
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Aid for Gaza, arms for Israel – UK must end complicity and ensure accountability
On one level, the UK government’s announcement of £3 million in new aid for the Gaza Strip is to be welcomed. The funding is destined for the World Food Programme’s emergency appeal, and comes on top of £4 million sent to UNRWA and £3 million to the International Committee...
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Aid for Gaza, arms for Israel – UK must end complicity and ensure accountability
On one level, the UK government’s announcement of £3 million in new aid for the Gaza Strip is to be welcomed. The funding is destined for the World Food Programme’s emergency appeal, and comes on top of £4 million sent to UNRWA and £3 million to the International Committee...
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Embassy's Islamophobic memes linked to ad agencies' hasbara offensive
Israel’s embassy in Ireland was the subject of anger and scorn this week, as their official Twitter account shared Islamophobic memes as part of a hasbara (propaganda) offensive. The images “featured well-known statues and artwork associated with different European countries”, with slogans like ‘Israel now Dublin next’, along with “weaponry...
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Premeditated murder: the Shuja'iyya massacre and Israeli criminality
65-year-old Ahmed Suleiman Akram al-‘Atawai and his 10-year-old grandchild Tala were running from Israel’s onslaught on Shuja’iyya. As they fled, they were hit by Israeli artillery shells, and died. They were among the dozens of victims Sunday, when Israeli forces pulverised the Gaza City district. Some, like Ahmed and Tala,...
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Homes in the crosshairs: Israeli war crimes, deterrence and impunity
On the eighth day of Israel’s most recent assault on the Gaza Strip, a senior officer in the Israeli military commented on the overnight bombing of the house of senior Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades figure Marwan Issa. “You call it a home”, the anonymous official said, “we call it...
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Israel's Palestinian citizens feeling the heat, as space for dissent shrinks
Last Friday, Palestinian citizens of Israel gathered at the entrance to Umm al-Fahm, one of the largest Arab towns inside the pre-1967 lines, in order to protest against Israeli attacks in the West Bank, and in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners. The demonstrators were violently dispersed by police, who deployed...
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New 'security'-focused plan advances Israel's colonisation of East Jerusalem
The Israeli government’s approval of an $86 million plan for tightening its grip over occupied East Jerusalem is the latest development in a process of colonisation that continues to proceed with impunity. According to an article in Haaretz, the five-year investment plan will fund “a number of actions with the...
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Fighting a losing battle, UK's Israel lobby bolsters links with Christian fundamentalists
The Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) recently published an item announcing the arrival of the “United Christian Alliance for Israel” (UCAI). The new organisation, described as “still in the infancy stages of growing”, is intended to give the UK “a voice to Christian unity in support for Israel”. The JLC, formed...
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Israeli ministers join vicious new attack on Palestinian MK Hanin Zoabi
Hanin Zoabi, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and Member of Knesset for Balad party, is being targeted by a new wave of incitement and racism. The latest attacks, which have included threats serious enough to warrant supplying her with a bodyguard, came after Zoabi gave an interview with Radio Tel...
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Israel's president-elect Reuven Rivlin in his own words
Reuven Rivlin was elected yesterday the tenth president of Israel. He has previously served as Speaker of the Knesset (2003-’06, 2009-’13), and has been a Member of Knesset since 1988. Hailing from PM Netanyahu’s Likud party, Rivlin also served as a minister in Ariel Sharon’s government (2001-’03). He will...
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Israeli film festival in London part of efforts to rebrand apartheid
An Israeli embassy-sponsored film festival is set to take place in London later this month, part of efforts to ‘rebrand’ an apartheid state increasingly the target of international boycotts. SERET 2014 was launched earlier this year at an event hosted by Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Daniel Taub. According to...
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ILO report warns of Gaza 'tinderbox', West Bank 'fragmentation'
A reinforced siege has turned the Gaza Strip into a “tinderbox”, while the West Bank economy remains stunted by a “labyrinth of restrictions” – that’s the stark message of a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The report, prepared for the ILO’s upcoming 103rd session, highlights the need...
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Excusing ethnic cleansing: Liberal Zionists, Israel and the Nakba
The Nakba, Arabic for ‘Catastrophe’, was the ethnic cleansing by pre-state Jewish forces and the Israeli military of up to 90 percent of all Palestinians inside the newly-established State of Israel. It is marked annually on 15 May, the date in 1948 when Israel was born in a process...
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Palestinians in Israel's ‘democracy’: The Judaization of the Galilee
Palestinians in Israel’s ‘democracy’: The Judaization of the Galilee Briefing Paper – Mar 2010 By Ben White Summary Points The ‘Judaization of the Galilee’ refers to Israeli state and regional policies aimed at increasing the proportion of Jewish residents in relation to Palestinians in the Galilee, an area in the north of the...
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Europe's largest teachers' union endorses Israel boycott call
The largest teachers’ union in Europe has passed a resolution backing a boycott of companies profiting from Israel’s illegal settlements and occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The National Union of Teachers (NUT), which has more than 300,000 members in England and Wales, adopted the motion on...
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Haifa University launches course in pro-Israel propaganda
The University of Haifa has launched an academic course to combat the online “delegitimization of Israel”, in what it claims to be a “first” for academia. In a press release dated 30 March, the University proudly describes the four credit course, offered by the Department of Multi-Disciplinary Studies, as...
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An anxious BICOM misrepresents negotiations breakdown
Prominent UK-based Israel lobby group BICOM (Britain Israel Communications & Research Centre) is worried. Not only are BDS campaigns on the up – prompting the publication of a booklet on the ‘Apartheid Smear’ – but the Kerry-led negotiations are in deep trouble. Why is that a problem for BICOM? Because...
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From ethnic cleansing to return: a peace process worthy of the name
This week marks the 66th anniversary of the ethnic cleansing of Miska, a Palestinian village whose roughly 1,000-strong population was expelled in April 1948 by Haganah forces. Located around 10 miles from Qalqilya, Miska boasted 100-200 houses, an elementary school for boys, and a mosque. The community was targeted and...
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The real delegitimisation: Apartheid Israel targets Palestinian citizens' political activism
Last week, Palestinian activist Muhammad Kanaaneh was due to address Tel Aviv University students at an event marking Land Day, a commemoration of the bloody state repression of anti-land expropriation protests in 1976. However, following pressure by right-wing Zionist activists, university authorities stepped in to ban Kanaaneh from delivering...
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Losing the debate, boycott opponents rely on legal threats
Last month at the University of Leeds, a debate was held on the boycott of Israel. The specific motion read: “This house believes that UK academics should boycott Israeli academic institutions until Israel ends the occupation and abides by international law”. Arguing for the motion were Jonathan Rosenhead and Sue...
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Israeli Ambassador: 'in Britain the good is getting better and the bad is getting worse'
In a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post’s weekend Hebrew-language newspaper, Israel’s Ambassador to the UK Daniel Taub discussed efforts being taken by the country’s London-based diplomats to resist Palestine solidarity efforts including BDS, and improve Israel’s image. The paper notes that, with boycotts “on a daily basis”, the Ambassador...
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The real story of the UN Human Rights Council: Europe slams Israeli crimes
Last week, Israel found itself isolated and condemned in Geneva, as the United Nations Human Rights Council passed four damning resolutions, each by 46-1. The resolutions testify to grave violations of international law, including the Geneva Conventions, as well as systematic discrimination and wide-scale human rights abuses. Settlements, whose...
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Spring in the step of BDS, as a worried Israel plans pushback
The first quarter of 2014 has been an interesting time for the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaign, with a number of promising developments – particularly in Europe – and indications that the Israeli government is taking the ‘threat’ posed by boycott initiatives more seriously than before. One significant development...